Cloud computing: Balancing costs with results

October 25, 2024

Cloud-computing-balancing-costs-with-results

According to ITWeb, the South African cloud computing market is expected to reach a valuation of over R113 billion by 2028, which is an impressive growth rate. This is a sign that more business owners are realising how the cloud's scalability, agility, and affordability can completely change companies.

However, managing a cloud environment can be daunting, particularly for large enterprises or businesses that are growing rapidly. Achieving the right balance between costs and desired outcomes is one of the biggest challenges for companies moving to the cloud. Luckily, a reputable cloud service provider can help.

A guide to cloud migration

Successful cloud migration needs careful preparation and execution. The main steps involved are as follows:

  1. Assessment and planning - The first step entails a detailed analysis of your current IT setup to determine which data and apps are most appropriate for moving to the cloud. This research helps to determine the cloud service provider and cloud architectures (public, private, or hybrid) that align with your business objectives.

  2. Application optimisation - It's important to optimise your apps for the cloud environment before the migration. This might require code refactoring or restructuring to ensure compatibility and effective resource utilisation in the cloud.

  3. Data relocation plan - Create an effective and secure data migration plan. This should include the best approach for moving big datasets to the cloud, encryption, and data recovery.

  4. Cloud deployment and testing - Data and apps are only moved to the cloud after the environment has been configured. To guarantee performance, security, and functionality, this step requires thorough testing.

  5. Continuous management and optimisation - Moving to the cloud is a continuous process. To achieve the intended outcomes and preserve cost effectiveness, ongoing monitoring and optimisation are needed, which can often be handled by your chosen cloud service provider.

Partnering with a trustworthy cloud services provider like SEACOM is important during the entire migration process. A seamless and effective migration is guaranteed by the expertise and experience of the cloud specialists, who will guide you through every stage of the process.

Tips for optimising the cloud

Unquestionably, cloud computing has its advantages, but continuous optimisation is necessary to get the best outcomes. Keep a close eye on how you're using cloud resources. To prevent overspending on resources that aren't being used, scale your resources (storage, processing power, etc.) up or down according to actual use. Also consider automation; automating regular processes like disaster recovery, patching, and backups, will allow IT personnel to concentrate on more strategic, high-level projects.

Be sure to examine the financial advantages that the majority of cloud providers offer. Savings plans can unlock reductions based on continuous consumption, and reserved instances offer substantial discounts for committed resources with upfront payment.

Make use of any cloud cost management solutions to get a thorough understanding of your cloud expenses. By highlighting consumption trends and possible optimisation opportunities, these tools help you make well-informed decisions for managing your cloud budget.

Maximising value from the cloud

For enterprises, cloud computing has many benefits. Firstly, cloud resources can scale up or down fast and effectively in response to changing business demands. This guarantees you only pay for the resources you use. Cloud platforms also facilitate quicker application development and deployment, enabling companies to be more innovative and reactive to changes in the market.

Leading cloud service providers have data centres with strict security measures and strong security features. Compared to conventional on-premise infrastructure, cloud environments are often more secure. In addition, cloud computing removes the need to spend a lot of money on software that needs to be installed on-site.

Lastly, cloud environments have disaster recovery and redundancy built in, so there is less downtime in the event of an interruption. Through the use of continuous optimisation strategies, companies can make sure they are getting the most out of their cloud investment.

SEACOM provides various cloud solutions tailored to the specific requirements of enterprises in. Our cloud specialists will create a personalised migration plan, carry out a smooth transfer, and put best practices into place for continuous optimisation of your cloud environment. For more information about our various cloud solutions or to get a quote, email us at digitalservices@seacom.com or leave us a message.

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SEACOM owns Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including subsea cables and secure internet connections. We offer a diverse range of flexible, scalable and high-quality solutions for businesses that meet world-class standards for connectivity.

SEACOM is privately owned and operated, making it agile and adaptable to the needs of the customer. This makes us the preferred ICT and internet connectivity partner for African businesses and peripheral service providers. We can guarantee high-speed, low-latency and secure internet connections to corporates and small enterprises.

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