Saving Costs While Migrating To The Cloud - A How-To Guide

Moving to the cloud is something that's been on every CTO's mind. And fairly enough, the various advantages of migrating to the cloud are too good to give up.

Here's what the top benefits of cloud migration are, according to Oracle's security in the age of AI report.

Source - Oracle’s Security in the Age of AI report

As is very evident, cost saving is one of the key drivers. 

And that's not just something that CTOs and IT leaders assume. The results are visible. Accenture, for example, found that their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) dropped by 30-40% upon moving to the public cloud.

Now, that's enough motivation for anyone to start considering cloud migration. But before you can get save even a penny with cloud migration, you'll have to spend some too for the migration.

And that's where most businesses often overspend. Don't want to lighten your pockets while migrating to the cloud?

Here's your how-to guide. Read on to save more while migrating to the cloud.

Before we get on the cost-saving tips for cloud migration, it is important to understand what are the key costs that are involved in the process.

Key Costs Involved In Cloud Migration

1. System Configuration

2. Deployment

3. Integration of cloud applications

4. Testing charges

5. Training IT staff members

Out of these costs, the highest segment is occupied by the human resource cost which includes hiring experts for cloud migration and training your IT staff members to operate on the cloud.

Post the migration to the cloud, your fixed costs in IT infrastructure and hardware transform into monthly operating costs involving SaaS subscription fees and the salaries of cloud support staff.

While the costs involved in migrating to the cloud are non-negotiable, you can make sure that you don't go over the budget by following the tips mentioned below:

1. Right Size Your Cloud Setup

Most companies make the mistake of copy-pasting their on-premises usage needs and then selecting a cloud plan that meets that needs. When migrating to the cloud, however, you’d have to consider a lot of other factors as well which can reduce or increase your capacity requirement. So make sure you select the right size for your cloud setup.

2. Reserve Capacity Upfront

If you are sure that there won’t be too many spikes or falls in capacity utilization for certain instances, you can reserve capacity with a majority of cloud service providers upfront and get great discounts.

That way, while you’ll still have the capacity to power your app, you will also be saving money.

3. Prefer Managed Services

Optimizing your cloud usage is one of the key to making the most of the service. But without experts onboard, it can quickly get complicated. Now instead of hiring a cloud engineer or architect in-house, you can go for managed cloud services or engage with IT service providers who can offer application maintenance as well as cloud support services. This is always more cost-effective than hiring in-house candidates.

Consult Experts To Maximize Cost Saving

No matter how hard you try, cloud migration can get confusing at some point. And the cost will skyrocket then. To stay safe and save more, consult cloud migration experts who can guide you during the process and even after that. Their expertise, combined with their hands-on experience, will help you stay within the budget and leverage all the advantages of migrating to the cloud.