As with most of our blog posts, this one has been prompted by a very interesting set of conversations with a customer who is in the process of migrating their entire (fairly large) IT infrastructure into the public cloud. Due to this, cloud optimisation has come to the forefront of their minds, and every day they are seeking to get in front of what could become an extreme challenge to control their cloud spend. It got us thinking about the next steps in cloud optimisation, or cloud optimisation 2.0 as we will refer to it here and how we see AI can help you.
It’s well known that cloud technology offers convenience, scalability, and cost efficiency, but many organisations often struggle to achieve all three simultaneously. Recently, with our customers, we’ve been exploring a new approach to address the challenges of cloud cost management. By combining automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and business insights, we’re working with organisations to achieve superior results and maximise the value of their cloud investments.
What happens with poor financial management in the cloud?
We’ve experienced slowed cloud adoption, under-utilisation of resources, low quality of service, and hampered innovation. Statistics show that 50% of enterprises admit to overspending on the cloud, while 80% of organisations are expected to overshoot their budgets due to a lack of planned cost optimisation approaches.
To address the challenges associated with cloud spending, organisations have embraced cloud financial management practices known as FinOps. FinOps enables collaboration between engineering, finance, technology, and business teams to make data-driven spending decisions. FinOps has gained traction as cloud adoption accelerates, with organisations embedding it into their business culture to gain better control over cloud costs.
In the past there have been limitations to cloud cost optimisation. In many circumstances it is a reactive and inefficient approach. The first iteration was often of a cyclical nature which leads to resource strain, culture misalignment, reactive behaviours, and incomplete data. Organisations relying on this have struggled to accurately forecast costs, align stakeholders, and achieve optimal savings.
A new and fresh approach represents a paradigm shift from reactive to proactive cost optimisation. It emphasises intelligent automation, continuous monitoring, and the utilisation of business insights. By adopting this mindset, organisations empower DevOps and IT leaders to make informed infrastructure and application architecture decisions that align with business goals and bottom-line performance.
But how do you transition to this new approach?
Establishing a centralised FinOps function, fostering a finance-aware culture, and automating manual optimisation tasks are key components. By distributing information and providing visibility to developers, this enables decentralised decision-making while maintaining centralised cost management.
As organisations strive for cloud cost optimisation, this new approach has emerged as a powerful way to overcome the limitations of traditional strategies. By embracing automation, AI, and business insights, organisations we have worked alongside are now achieving superior results and unlocking the full potential of their cloud investments. By working with our customers on these new strategies, we are assisting them to be empowered organisations that maintain elasticity, rapid innovation, and cost efficiency, making the most of cloud technology without breaking the bank.
If you want to hear more about how we are working with organisations on their cloud strategy, then please submit a request to have a chat with us.
