The public cloud is here to stay. Analyst surveys estimate that total public cloud spending will reach US$1T by 2025. The promise of reduced cost, on-demand provisioning, and innovative financial models are key drivers of this growth. However, as with any new technology, there are teething challenges. A pervasive CIO concern has been the seemingly out-of-control and opaque cloud bill and the associated lack of organizational governance around cloud costs. Unfortunately, by the time the CIO intervenes, it’s too late, as the money has already been spent.
While optimizing cloud spend requires a hands-on approach to governance and forecasting, it does not require perfect knowledge of the future. The graph below illustrates that reservation-based discounts can deliver cost savings even when you can’t fully predict your upcoming cloud needs.