Rising cloud costs and what businesses can do

Rising energy costs is a hot topic for all businesses and individuals at the moment, affecting just about every business type and sector. One of the most significant effects of the rise in energy prices, when it comes to IT, is the knock-on effect on the costs of cloud, due to the vast amounts of power needed to run data centres.

Here’s what’s happening and what businesses can do to stay ahead of the cloud-flation curve.

Google’s announced price rises

Recently Google announced its price rises for Google Cloud infrastructure services, due to come into effect in October 2022, with further price changes mentioned for 2023. Those with contracts already in place will not be affected until renewal, and with six months’ notice given of the changes, it gives businesses and organisations the opportunity to adjust their patterns of cloud usage before the rise.

Power costs of cloud

Power costs are the top operating expense for data centres – not only for the huge amount of processing involved, as you would expect, but for cooling, physical storage and security surveillance.

With all major providers planning to increase their data centre presence in the coming years, all are affected, particularly those with locations in Europe. Although with no timelines announced for additional centres, it remains uncertain, due to the economic landscape, whether these plans will be put on hold.

What business can do to use cloud most effectively

Since with cloud, you pay for what you use, now is the time for businesses to ensure they are using their cloud provision to its maximum effectiveness, with a view to saving where they can.

Make the most of syncing

Immediate synchronising of all your files across all devices is a huge benefit of cloud. And of course, you are paying for this, as well as the storage of all your files, whether you are updating them or not.

But do you have old, archived sets of files that you hardly ever consult?

If so, there may be an option with your provider to put them into ‘cold storage’, which means not being subject to syncing. It’s a much cheaper cloud storage option that may save on your cloud expenses and one worth exploring.

Organise files into a clear structure

A messy file structure can result in copies of the same file, unnecessary, endless versions of a file and an unnavigable mass of files that potentially could be streamlined into fewer.

With some cloud providers, for example, Google, you can add a shortcut to a file within a folder, instead of adding another copy of the file itself – which helps you save on the storage you are using.

Get in the know about your cloud usage

By being clear and organised with your files, you’ll be in a better position to understand your cloud usage costs, and therefore alter any business habits to be as cloud-efficient as possible. By proper governance of the file structures your team uses, and also having protocols around downloads of apps and documents, you will be able to more easily control cloud costs.

Providers encourage customers to be carbon-conscious

Providers are demonstrating their active support for businesses in being carbon-conscious, and their use of energy. And in their own operations are investing in renewable energies, such as solar, for powering new centres.

For the businesses they service, there are tools available for measuring your own carbon-footprint, in a bid to promote the longer-term, eco-friendly operating of technology we increasingly aspire to.

Free carbon-tracking tools for businesses

AWS have launched a free Customer Carbon Footprint Tool, where you can track your carbon emissions generated from your AWS usage.

Similarly, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability is designed to help you record your business’s environmental impact and set goals. And Google Cloud's Carbon Footprint similarly tracks your gross carbon emissions associated with the electricity of your cloud computing usage.

While these tools won’t necessarily save you money by themselves, they increase our education around energy usage, enabling cost- and carbon-reduction strategies to be put in place, that will, if implemented well, safeguard our businesses going forward. 

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