IT managers flock to the dentist

A case study on the hidden costs of unused cloud resources

A while ago I was on a Zoom call with an executive of a medium-sized company who expressed frustration with the explosive growth of their cloud costs. “The cloud,” he said, ”is one big candy store. You can buy anything you want from it. But then the bill comes, and that gives you an immediate toothache.” This image stuck with me. That “candy store” - tempting, rich in options and easily accessible - is the perfect metaphor for how companies commonly handle cloud resources. IT managers who unknowingly overeat on options end up at the financial dentist's office for painful treatment.

With that, the question is: How do you keep your organization from ending up in the same situation? In this blog, I'm going to explore this problem and show you how you can reduce that expensive cloud bill by dealing smartly with unused or unoptimized cloud resources.

The temptation of the candy store

Moving to the cloud offers unprecedented opportunities. You can start on-demand servers, expand storage and access advanced tools such as machine learning, all with a few clicks. No waiting, no physical hardware and (seemingly) no limits. This convenience is a huge strength, but also a pitfall.

IT teams often focus on speed and scalability, perfectly logical. But with that freedom also comes responsibility. Without clear guidelines or monitoring mechanisms, cloud environments grow uncontrollably more often than we care to. Test servers that are never turned off, storage that keeps growing because no one cleans it up, or larger VM instances than necessary - we see this and other unnecessary costs occur more often than many IT managers consider to be desirable.

And the comparison to a candy store goes beyond choice. In the cloud, it's just as easy to throw extra “candy” in your basket as it is to start a new resource. And because cloud invoices are so complex - thousands of invoice lines are common - no one has an overview of what the money is being spent on and whether it is delivering value. Or whether it's being used at all.

The financial impact of unused cloud resources

The impact of unused or oversized cloud resources is significant. 10%-20% unused resources is very common. The biggest costs often come from:

Unused instances: Virtual machines or databases running without active workloads.
Over-provisioning: Resources that are much larger than needed. Consider a database that was once 2 TB in size, but now contains only 200 GB of data.
Data traffic: Unnecessary data transfers between zones or applications.
Excessive storage: For example, backups or logs that are not cleaned up and continue to grow.

While it may seem that a few dollars a month for an unused server doesn't matter much, this can add up considerably, especially in large environments. Imagine a company that gives hundreds of developers access to a cloud environment with no clear rules. Every time a developer turns on a server and forgets to turn it off, the cost increases. This can result in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasted time each year. And believe me, I see this more often than I would like.

What does this mean for your organization?

Reduced profitability: Every unused cloud resource eats directly into your IT budget, meaning less is left for innovation.
Higher cost per customer: Companies that build services on the cloud see their operational costs rise, shrinking their gross margins.
Loss of competitive advantage: Organizations with high cost structures are less flexible and unable to respond quickly to market changes.

It's not just financial pain

The consequences are not exclusively financial. Managing a cluttered cloud environment presents other challenges as well:

Complexity in management: Every unused resource makes it harder to see which resources are essential. IT teams spend more time finding and managing resources than on strategic initiatives.
Security risks: Unclaimed cloud resources are a potential target for hackers. Unused servers or storage with sensitive data can be a huge vulnerability.
Environmental impact: Unnecessarily running cloud resources consumes energy and contributes to carbon emissions, which goes against the sustainability goals of many organizations.

How to control visitors to the candy store

Controlling your cloud environment starts with insight. Many organizations struggle with the question of which resources are really needed and which cause unnecessary costs. We have developed the Cloud Cost Audit especially for this purpose. This audit provides a detailed overview of what cloud resources your organization purchases and what is actually being used.

So what does the Cloud Cost Audit do?

With our Cloud Cost Audit, we compare the cloud resources you purchase with your actual usage. This provides a crystal clear picture of over-provisioning, unused instances and hidden costs. But it doesn't stop there: we help you decide which resources to clean up, which to downsize and which remain critical to your operations.

With this data-driven approach, you avoid the risk of accidentally deleting something that is still vital. Think of a database that contains crucial backup data or a server that is part of a less visible but important application. The audit helps you optimize with confidence, without operational risk.

Advantages of our approach

Insight in real-time usage: You get an overview of all active and inactive resources, with details on their current load and costs.
Data-driven decisions: Instead of guessing what you can clean up, you base your choices on hard facts.
Cost savings without risk: You only make changes that reduce proven costs while not compromising the continuity of your business processes.

How does it work?

Taking inventory: Someone from our team analyzes your entire cloud environment, including all active and inactive resources.
Reporting: You receive a report with concrete recommendations for cleanup and downsizing. If we see opportunities for optimization we report those as well.
Advice: Together we discuss what actions you can take to realize cost savings.

With our Cloud Cost Audit, you can take back control of your cloud costs and ensure that your investments go only to what you really need. No more unnecessary waste - just a tight, efficient cloud environment that supports your business goals.

The cloud may be a candy store, but with the right guidance, you'll avoid going out of business. Our Cloud Cost Audit helps you not only keep the receipt in check, but also take advantage of everything the cloud has to offer, but without the unpleasant surprises. Say you ... avoid an expensive dentist appointment.

From toothache to being in control

To reduce cloud costs effectively and without risk, you need to drive data. The Sciante team provides you with that data. It helps you regain control of your cloud spending. By consciously managing your cloud usage, you can realize huge savings without compromising performance.

Make an appointment now and in 30 minutes we will discuss how you can optimize your cloud costs.

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