A multi-cloud strategy can quickly become costly, especially with different providers. What you need is a cloud accountant to control the budgeting and billing processes.
In today's world, the cloud isn't simply a service IT teams can use -- it's the only service they use for some key applications. As a result, many companies have moved into the cloud space as the applications they need dictate it. These moves have, inherently, imposed a multi-cloud strategy on many companies.
Enterprises that have multiple vendors for cloud services need to consider a range of factors, including how to work with different vendors, as well as how to budget and assess costs of products and features. While multi-cloud budgeting can quickly become complex, IT teams can ease the process by defining who needs to be involved and how the budget should be set up.
Who's involved in multi-cloud budgeting?
Senior management does not need to participate actively in the budgeting process. Yes, they can get reports and ask questions, but they should not be directly involved with billing. It costs money to move, retrieve and use data in the cloud. Management might only see the initial cost of storage -- which gets worse with multiple clouds -- and, consequently, not understand the reasons for the cost.
What enterprises need is a cloud accountant. Although that role might not officially exist, a senior engineer or architect can take on this budgeting responsibility.
What enterprises need is a cloud accountant. Although that role might not officially exist, a senior engineer or architect can take on this budgeting responsibility. The employee should have enough technical knowledge to understand how a management decision affects resource requests. The cloud accountant should be able to look at both the short and long term and consider operational costs as well. This person needs some understanding of Opex and Capex and minor accounting skills.
Cloud accountants need communication and technical skills, as they likely have to explain cloud concepts to nontechnical people. If the person has the technical and financial skills but can't communicate with senior managers, management is more likely to take the role over. For example, diplomatic skills can help a cloud accountant explain why costs spiked due to higher usage or new features.
How to set up a multi-cloud budget
Once enterprises have determined who is involved in their multi-cloud budget strategy, it's time to investigate factors like business requirements, cloud contracts and billing.
Balance cost and business requirements
A multi-cloud budget starts with the cloud accountant role, but requires input from other roles. Upper management can help balance commitment with cost discounts. For example, a cloud accountant presents to management clear and concise data on different cost models, and management evaluates technical input and company commitments to determine where the ideal balance is. This decision is based on cost and business requirements -- not technical -- so it must be done at the management level.
A multi-cloud environment continues to evolve and change based on company needs, so it has to be managed by someone as fluid.
Evaluate cloud contracts
Ideally, enterprises want cloud contracts to terminate together. However, it's important to balance cost breaks with the required length of services. Most enterprises have applications in the cloud with different life spans, so it can be difficult to align cloud contracts. The key is to track when contracts expire. If teams want to change one application that's dependent on other cloud services in a multi-cloud environment, it's better to use shorter or month-to-month contracts.
Understand billing
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to the cloud is not knowing who's responsible for costs and billing aspects. Confusion and blame about who's doing what often emerge when multiple people are involved with the process. The chaos multiplies when dealing with several cloud vendors.
Multi-cloud billing requires a different type of managing personnel, such as a cloud accountant. A multi-cloud environment continues to evolve and change based on company needs, so it has to be managed by someone as fluid. This single management source provides the checklist, cost controls and reporting that all groups within the business need.
With these insights, enterprises can successfully manage and control their multi-cloud environment costs. Success requires a cloud accountant guru who can interact with all stakeholders.
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