Each cloud platform contains a dizzying array of virtual machine types. Having lots of choices is good, but can quickly get overwhelming and exhausting.
That’s why we here at Akasia Cloud are sharing our most important do’s and don’ts for right-sizing as you migrate to the cloud. Right-sizing ensures you are paying only for the services you need, and can save you between 30-60% in unnecessary cloud costs.
First, some context: each of the 5 major public cloud providers–AWS, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft Azure–offers on-demand hourly, monthly, reserved instances, spot, bare metal, and reserved instance types.
In addition to choosing your instance type, each instance type comes with additional options and decisions to make. You can choose your storage type (HDD vs. SDD sizes), memory (RAM sizes), and tenancy (shared vs. dedicated). Another consideration is your geographic region, as each region has different prices.
As you can see, the choices are many when migrating to the cloud! However, with our insider information, you can make the best choices to maximize your savings and only pay for what your business needs.
Don’t: Migrate On-Premises to Cloud Native
Our first major tip is DON’T migrate on-premises to cloud native. It’s tempting to simply look for a similar server on cloud native virtual machines (VMs). While this is easier in the short term, it will likely cost you more in the long run.
Converting on-premises VMware to cloud native VMs takes time, both for conversion and testing. Time you could be spending producing more value for your company!
Do: Right-Size Your Cloud Servers and VMs
We recommend that you DO right-size your cloud servers and VMs. Failure to right-size is the #1 reason for runaway migration costs. You can maximize your cloud’s efficiency by finding the most cost-effective servers and packing more VMs into those cost-effective servers.
On-premises VMware is often overprovisioned, meaning servers are under-utilized with excess resources. Because of this, right-sizing your cloud hosts and VMs can save 30-60% in costs over replicating your on-premises environment in the cloud.
Do: Give VMware a Try
Our final advice is that you DO consider VMware-on-Cloud offerings. When considering VMware as a service offerings, right-sizing is less crucial but still beneficial.
The main advantage of converting to VMware-on-Cloud is that is saves time, with no conversion and less testing required than cloud native VMs. It can help you achieve your Capex to Opex objectives and maintain a familiar VMware environment in the cloud.
VM and Cloud Server Host right-sizing is the most important part of a cloud migration project. If you follow our tips and take the time to do this thoughtfully, you will realize significant cost savings over one-to-one server mapping.
Want to learn more about lifting and shifting to VMware-on-Cloud? Check out our free infographic.
Akasia, Inc. is a Cloud Cost Modeling provider that can help you cost optimize your cloud migration projects. Our software models your on-premises environments and compares across all major cloud platforms so that you can uncover scenarios which lead to maximum cost savings on the cloud. You can learn more about Akasia’s services on our website.
