NexusLeap Insights

What Is Cloud Optimization and Why Is It Important?

Written by Ronnie Liu | Nov 16, 2022 5:00:00 PM

Projections show that the global cloud computing market will reach a size of $1.712 trillion by 2029.

Cloud computing has become an incredibly popular technology in recent years. Everything from the library to performance, from security to disaster recovery, is moving to the cloud. Like all technologies, those who use cloud computing want it to be as effective and efficient as possible.

Cloud optimization helps users get the most out of the cloud services that they use. Without it, companies wouldn't be able to keep up with the resources that moving to the cloud and using it requires.

So, if you're interested in learning more about cloud optimization and how it can help you, keep reading.

What Is Cloud Optimization?

Cloud optimization is a process that's used to improve the overall efficiency of a business when using a cloud computing system. This is done by determining how to best use the resources available on different cloud features in a way that keeps waste to a minimum.

Cloud optimization can vary significantly, as the use cases of companies are never exactly the same. As such, a cloud optimization strategy that works for one company may prove completely ineffective for another. Various factors like the industry, type of business, and the software/operating systems already in use can also have an effect.

To develop the best cloud optimization strategy for your company you need to look at a range of factors and determine how resources should be used. Cloud management can help you achieve this.

Cloud Management

Cloud management involves observing your company's cloud usage and collecting data. This allows you to see what features are being used most/least. From this, you can get an idea of what you don't need, and where you may need to put extra resources.

One of the most important things to remember about cloud optimization it's not a one-off thing. You might go through the process and maximize the efficiency of your cloud system, but with time, things will change. You need to constantly observe things to see what changes happen and adapt to them as they do.

DevOps can look at different KPIs (key performance indicators), and track operations to see if they're being met. This is how they'll see how effective a cloud management strategy is, and determine what improvements can be made.

How Does Cloud Optimization Work?

There are various reasons for cloud optimization. Some of the most important are:

  •  • Cost reduction
  •  • Organization-wide collaboration
  •  • Improved cloud application performance
  •  • Better software quality
  •  • Continuous improvement strategies

 

There's a range of ways to achieve these goals. The most effective methods will vary depending on the cloud computing platform your organization uses.

Why Is Cloud Optimization Important?

Efficiency and productivity are crucial in all areas of an organization. If you still need to go through enterprise cloud migration, good cloud optimization will ensure your company starts benefiting from the change immediately. Cloud computing on its own can provide several benefits, but there's also a range of advantages that come with implementing cloud optimization.

Boosted Visibility

Even if you already use cloud computing within your organization, it may not be 100% clear how it's being used. To get the most out of it, you want to know what's going on behind the scenes.

If you use a Pay-as-you-Go cloud service, for example, you might expect it to scale automatically based on your usage. This isn't always the case, however, which means you could regularly be over-allocating resources. When this happens, you'll simply be wasting resources, and therefore money.

Cloud optimization will show you when resources are being wasted. Through proper operations management, you can then make changes to prevent it from continuing.

Reduced Costs

Cloud computing is incredibly useful, but it can also be quite costly. The benefits are very worthwhile but many companies don't realize how much money they're wasting because they don't use cloud optimization. Overall, organizations waste billions of dollars each year because they're paying for cloud services and resources that they don't need.

Many companies also treat cloud services as a fixed cost, when they should be variable. This poor cost management leads to even further waste.

Through cloud optimization, teams can better relate costs to the value of the services they're receiving. As such, they can understand the cost per unit, process, segment, customer, product, or department. With such insights, they can make better decisions in the future to better determine how spending should be managed.

Increased Cloud Utilization

There are various cloud optimization platforms available, and they offer a range of features. As technology advances, the number of features available increases, but people aren't always aware of what these features are, or the benefits they bring.

Getting the most out of your cloud services means understanding what they offer. If you fail to keep up with new services and features, you may be missing out on things that could be very useful for your organization. On top of that, you'll still be paying for them.

With cloud optimization, you can stay up to date with any new features as and when they're available. You'll also be able to assess if they'll be worthwhile to your organization. This will help you decide whether or not you need them, and how to allocate resources if you do.

Improved Engineers' Productivity

Engineers can sometimes spend significant amounts of time working on optimization. As such, they might not have a lot of time to work on their main tasks of coding and problem-solving. By implementing cloud optimization they may have more time freed up to focus on their primary role.

There are some areas that your cloud provider will handle themselves. By identifying these, you can ensure your engineers don't use any of their time on such tasks. This typically includes things like platform updates and implementing new capabilities, but there can also be other elements.

Things like data strategy and data security are less likely to be handled by your provider. These are the kind of areas that you may want your engineers to focus on more. In doing this, you'll save time, and improve efficiency in various areas.

You may also be able to implement cloud automation for certain tasks. By doing so, workers won't need to spend as much time on simple, repetitive tasks. They'll then be able to focus on more important jobs.

Better Innovation and Efficiency

Making sure everyone's focus is where it should be will typically lead to increased efficiency. It will also make it easier for individuals to come up with innovations that can provide further benefits. To add to this, you can:

  •  • Equip individuals and teams with cross-department skills
  •  • Improve decision-making time
  •  • Increase effectiveness
  •  • Deploy recommendations faster
  •  

As an example, you could implement cloud cost-effectiveness with your engineers. They'll then be better equipped to issue overspend alerts before they happen. This could save your organization a lot of money in the long run.

Best Practices for Cloud Optimization

There are various things you can do to get the most out of cloud optimization. This applies to before and after cloud migration, and you want to ensure all relevant employees know what practices to follow.

Get the Full Picture

Proper cloud optimization requires a lot of data. Make sure you collect this data efficiently so that you can query it over time. Creating regular cost and usage reports, for example, will give your plenty of data to work with and analyze.

By keeping an eye on your cloud environment, you can collect the data you need to determine costs vs. returns. This will help you better manage finances and prevent overspending.

Gather Context

There's one important thing to remember about cloud platforms and the cost and usage reports they produce. These reports suit how the platform works - not your organization. The insights you gain will relate to the cloud services used, but not how well your company has performed.

Because of this, they won't provide information like spending for a specific product, customer, or team. Tools are available that can help you get data on the specifics of your business.

Create Company-Wide Standards

All operations throughout your business should follow certain standards, and your cloud usage is no different. Establish what cloud features your teams should be using so that you can eliminate components that don't align with your goals. This is generally done by making sure cloud spending lines up with value.

To put these standards in place you first need to know how the decisions of your workers impact costs. Doing this should prevent there from being any surprises in terms of spending.

Measure Performance

You should always measure performance to see if your decisions are achieving ideal results or not. This is essential for helping to make the best business decisions in the future.

Your Cloud Optimization

At NexusLeap we specialize in providing high-quality decision-making analytics tools. We've worked with all kinds of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, so we're prepared to help out any organization. We'll work to implement a custom solution that perfectly meets the cloud optimization needs of your company, helping you reach your goals.

If you have any questions about our services click here to visit our site and contact us today.