How to have visibility and control of the cost of SAP cloud solutions

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In today’s digital age, more and more companies are migrating their systems and workloads to the cloud to take advantage of the scalability, flexibility and availability benefits it offers. As an SAP service provider, with more than 20 years of experience in migration and ongoing operation of SAP systems in different clouds, we have witnessed first-hand how this transition has transformed the way organizations manage their IT operations and resources.

However, cloud adoption brings with it challenges, particularly in terms of cost management. SAP cloud solutions can present additional complexities and challenges. As companies move their applications and workloads to the public cloud, the task of controlling and optimizing their expenses to ensure efficient resource utilization in a highly dynamic environment becomes increasingly essential.

Such a task becomes more complicated when workloads are distributed among different accounts or even among different clouds. In these cases, achieving a single point of review becomes a highly complex problem. The solution lies in robust and effective cost management that provides visibility and control over spend across all cloud environments used, especially when it comes to SAP cloud solutions.

We have also observed that cost calculators provided by cloud vendors often show only part of the full picture. While the cost of core resources such as virtual machine instances is generally clear, there are hidden ones associated with deploying and operating these machines. These can include inter-regional data transfer, monitoring services costs, and costs associated with configuration management and security audits.

FinOps, or financial operations, is a relatively recent practice that emphasizes the importance of updating traditional infrastructure expense management methods to avoid high cloud bills. 61% of cloud users say cost optimization is a priority (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191577/cloud-fin).

Against this backdrop, at Novis we have focused on developing methods to enable more efficient and effective cost management. These seek to identify areas of opportunity for cost optimization and offer solutions adapted to multiple clouds. In our experience working with AWS, Azure and GCP, we have found that an effective cost management strategy must be multifaceted, considering all aspects, from initial resource planning to continuous monitoring of consumption and costs.

Optimizing cloud costs involves not only reducing them, but also ensuring that the cloud is being used as effectively as possible to achieve business objectives. This involves taking a balanced approach that considers costs and performance, availability, security, and compliance needs.

Also, to effectively control cloud costs, continuous monitoring and regular evaluation of usage and spending patterns is critical. This is where our consulting services can provide exceptional value.

In summary, cost control in the cloud environment is a vital element in maximizing the benefits of cloud adoption and ensuring efficient resource utilization. This task requires taking a proactive approach that includes intelligent resource utilization, continuous monitoring of usage and costs, and implementation of strategies that enable effective visibility and cost control across multiple clouds.

To meet this challenge, we have developed a tool that organizes the detection of areas of opportunity for cost optimization, offering a centralized view of our clients’ costs.

As part of our managed services for SAP, SAP AMS, we provide our clients with advice and tools to manage and optimize their cloud costs. We will continue to share our experiences and expertise to help companies navigate this complex landscape. The cloud is not just a destination, it is a journey, and proper cost management is a critical component of it. We are proud to be part of this journey, providing the expertise and tools necessary for effective cost control in the cloud.

For more information on this and our other services we invite you to contact us.

Article from: Cristian Marin, CTO Novis and Rodrigo Spencer, Controller Cloud Services.