In a 2021 InterVision/Pulse survey of IT leaders and executives*, 92% of respondents said that their organization expects the IT team to be operating with a cloud-first approach, yet 45% were unsure or not meeting their cost objectives in the cloud. With some not meeting their savings goals in the cloud, it’s no surprise that some in leadership might be asking, “Does AWS really save money compared to other IT infrastructure models?”
Pathways to Saving in the Cloud
Indeed, it can be hard to determine the true cost savings of moving to the cloud when some stakeholders in a business remain skeptical of its value and outcomes. The answer to gaining the proper buy-in for switching to cloud servers from your on-premises infrastructure often depends upon demonstrating smaller victories first, such as moving a smaller portion of your IT ecosystem before doing a major migration.
Many organizations are opting to use the cloud for disaster recovery, for example, to see early success in clouds like AWS. Additionally, using the cloud for DR testing or running smaller workloads there can allow unfamiliar IT members to gain preliminary experience in the cloud in a lower-stakes environment, rather than drinking from a fire hose with the organization’s most crucial assets in the cloud.
Read InterVision’s blog post, “What Are The Cloud Migration Types? Explained,” for more information on possible pathways to the AWS cloud.
So, What’s the Bottom Line?
Yet, the question remains for many in organizations, especially those CFOs worried if something like the AWS is actually cheaper than maintaining an on-prem environment. Does cloud save money? The short answer is yes. The longer-form answer is that yes, but it depends upon the foundation you’ve empowered in the cloud for the rest of the business to run on.
The key to determining the total picture of average cost savings for cloud computing is in first determining the baseline spend for your existing infrastructure before moving to the cloud. Afterwards, you can do an accurate comparison of the cost-to-value for cloud.
Save on AWS Cost with Native Features
AWS luckily makes it much easier for customers in their cloud to save on IT costs than expected. With features like Reserved Instances, AWS Savings Plans, and a variety of storage environments to tier datasets and workloads to specific company needs, the trick is sometimes knowing when to use what and why. These AWS cost optimization tools also vary by the architecture stance you’ve created in the cloud after migrating there—which puts extra emphasis on getting to the cloud at the right pace and in the right way.
Cost on Your Own vs. With Help
In InterVision’s 2021 Pulse survey*, 51% noted that IT personnel lacked time to focus on cost management in the cloud. If this is the case for your organization, this means that your overall strategy could be suffering, hindered with the weight of overspending. It could be a reason to engage with a third-party for advice or offloading some of the cloud management tasks.
Ongoing cost savings in the cloud depends upon three key areas: 1) architecture, 2) FinOps and 3) governance. InterVision explores these three areas of AWS cost optimization in the below blog series:
- How Do I Reduce My AWS Costs? Optimizing Architecture
- How Do I Reduce My AWS Costs? Utilizing Savings Plans
- How Do I Reduce My AWS Costs? Implementing Governance Controls
InterVision is proud to offer a Cloud Cost Optimization Service, which aims to help midsize, enterprise, and public sector organizations create the most ideal AWS environment for their goals. With an SLA-backed guarantee to identify 30% or more savings on monthly AWS costs (restrictions apply, contact us), this service delivers more savings for clients than any other offering in the market.
*Pulse, “Cloud Migration Drivers and Challenges” Survey, 2021.
