Thunderstorm

The Public Cloud Can be a Thunderstorm of Hidden Costs

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Technology has reached a point of subservient adaptability. Where businesses once had to worry endlessly about the costs and maintenance of hosting their data, the cloud has created an ethereal, floating universe of data and computing resources.. There is still a struggle in the clouds as businesses find themselves torn between the private and public cloud spaces.Holding on to cloud computing

While the private cloud offers potentially greater security and control, businesses are still considering the public cloud as a viable option. This decision is generally a balance between capital and operating costs. The public cloud may on the surface appear to be a much cheaper option but there are many hidden costs in the public cloud that businesses rarely take into account…

Here are three hidden costs that might be worth considering.

Users Going Rogue

The ease of deployment in many public cloud implementations is both a blessing and a curse. It is easy for non-technical staff to provision resources in the cloud quickly and easily but, in the absence of centralized management and control, such implementations can quickly become an untamed beast. And, a costly one at that!
Compliance may be an additional concern as users copy corporate data to the public cloud. Internal network controls no longer apply and proper governance must extend its scope to include public cloud partners.

Cheap Storage, Except…Expensive to Retrieve

Many cloud storage offerings are exceptionally attractive as virtually limitless data repositories due to low cost per unit. But many pricing plans are asymmetric; cheap to upload data but not so cheap to retrieve it. Choosing the proper cloud storage provider based on your specific needs is important to manage your total cost.

Failing to Clean Up

Much like the public storage facilities were we offload our excess stuff, forget about it, and continue paying monthly for it, cloud resources can become an expensive collection of junk that is no longer needed. It is so easy to provision new resources (much easier than getting rid of unused resources) that the allocation, and the bill, only expand. Centralized management and governance are the only way to ensure that resources are efficiently and effectively controlled.

Know What You’re Getting Into

Before jumping into the public cloud, it is important to know what resources you anticipate needing, how you will use them, and to establish governance around the provisioning and management of those resources. It is the only way to ensure that you get the most for your cloud investment.