Colin Thornton, Director, Argantic

Cloud optimisation is a continuous process crucial to ensuring businesses choose the right resources and licensing models for workloads and applications. It helps uncover hidden costs and secures ROI from cloud investment. This insight comes from Colin Thornton, Director of Argantic, a prominent Microsoft solutions provider and part of the Turrito group of companies.

Thornton believes cloud optimisation remains a constant challenge for businesses, particularly as new technologies and systems regularly emerge, offering opportunities to save money and improve efficiency.

“To fully capitalise on these benefits and avoid unplanned costs, organisations must have a clear strategy for managing cloud spend,” Thornton says. “Many customers overspend on cloud services due to a lack of awareness about new technologies and optimisation opportunities. This is a common issue in the market, one we see all the time.”

Thornton adds that many businesses still rely on outdated thinking about cloud infrastructure, failing to recognise the potential savings that come with modern technologies and architectures. He estimates that 60% to 70% of businesses with cloud strategies in South Africa could benefit from more cloud optimisation, with some only needing minor adjustments, while others may require major overhauls.

To keep up to date with the constant changes, Thornton advises organisations to consult with experienced service providers. These specialists have up-to-date knowledge and expertise to identify and implement optimisations, including those that may not be immediately obvious, such as using less expensive storage or configuring infrastructure to reduce bandwidth costs. In most cases, the savings more than pay for the specialists and the savings are ongoing.

“Many organisations simply don’t know what’s possible; with expert insight, they may find their cloud systems actually become more powerful at a lower price,” Thornton says.

Another key area for cost savings lies in licensing. Thornton says many organisations fail to review the full range of licences available, leading, for instance, to overspending on premium licences when a lower-tier option would suffice. New licence types, whether for users, network infrastructure or servers, are being released all the time.

“Optimising Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) licences, such as Office 365 and endpoint protection, can yield significant savings by selecting the appropriate licence type for each user,” Thornton says.

Regular audits of software usage can help businesses identify underutilised or redundant licences, ensuring they only pay for what they truly need. Thornton emphasises that aligning licensing with actual usage patterns not only reduces costs, but also enhances operational efficiency by streamlining software management

Despite its potential for cost savings, cloud optimisation is often overlooked. Thornton points out that it’s not always seen as a critical issue like cybersecurity or compliance, and organisations may struggle to determine who within the company is responsible for managing it.

“Organisations still approach cloud workloads and servers in an outdated way, thinking about them as they would traditional on-premise infrastructure,” says Thornton. “But the cloud operates differently, and new optimisation strategies are needed.”

Thornton also highlights that many businesses are already taking advantage of obvious optimisation strategies, such as committing to long-term contracts for large discounts through reserved instances and savings plans.

Looking ahead, Thornton predicts that cloud optimisation will remain an ongoing challenge as technology continues to evolve. Businesses must stay informed about the latest developments, or bring in experts, to boost efficiencies and reduce costs.

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