How a free server ends up costing thousands
Moving to the cloud saves money, right? After all, you have no servers to purchase, no data centre to pay for. Better still, you pay only for what you use. So why are many companies surprised when they get the bill? In a recent paper on this subject we found numerous examples of this – including one where a “free” option ended up costing thousands of dollars.
The reality is that few companies understand how cloud providers calculate costs. Much like cell phone plans, there are low priced “basic” plans and a multitude of conditions as well as options and add-ons that make it difficult to calculate or compare costs.
What to do about it? The first thing is to realize that moving to the cloud requires a strategy.
That strategy will ensure that you understand how to leverage the cloud to achieve your objectives. You should know the key benefits. You should also be aware of pitfalls and problems. Bottom line – you need to be able to ask the right questions. There are also resources that you can use from each of the major cloud providers, although you need to have a pretty good understanding of your environment. When in doubt, find someone who has done this before.
We’ve prepared a very readable guide that will help you increase your understanding, and which will point you in the direction of some resources that can help you. You can download “The True Cost of Cloud” and of course, we’d be glad to answer any questions you might have.