[Countermeasures against weak yen] How to cut costs on cloud usage fees

This is Ohara from the China office.

Cloud services are an essential part of the infrastructure for many companies, but recently, due to price hikes caused by the weak yen and rising prices in Japan, many companies are reconsidering their monthly cloud usage fees. In particular, payments for foreign cloud services are mostly made in USD, so they are greatly affected by exchange rates

In this article, we will focus solely on the "cost cutting" aspect and introduce ways to reduce and save on monthly cloud usage fees

*Information as of May 2024

1. Cloud resource optimization

Deleting unnecessary cloud resources

When using cloud services for a long period of time, unnecessary resources can accumulate. By periodically reviewing these resources and deleting unused virtual servers, storage, network resources, etc., you can reduce unnecessary costs

In addition, some cloud providers offer tools that automatically monitor the usage of cloud resources, so it is important to continuously monitor cloud resources and identify areas where unnecessary resources can be reduced and optimization can be achieved

Resource Optimization and Automation

One of the strengths of the cloud is the ability to scale resources up or down as needed. By monitoring resource usage and configuring auto-scaling or serverless architectures to increase resources during peak times and decrease resources during off-seasons, you can prevent excessive resource usage

For example, with AWS, you can use the Auto Scaling feature or take advantage of serverless architectures such as AWS Lambda to use resources only when you need them

② Review your subscription plan

Utilizing Reserved Instances

Some cloud service providers offer discounts for long-term contracts known as Reserved Instances

Alternatively, depending on the service specifications of the cloud provider, there may be restrictions such as having to pay for the required resources in advance in one lump sum and not being able to change instance specifications mid-stream, but if you plan to use the resources for a long period of time or if they are used frequently, you should consider introducing reserved instances

Utilizing Spot Instances

Again, depending on the cloud service provider, there is the option of spot instances, where the cloud provider offers unused resources at a low price

For temporary or background tasks, you can save money by leveraging Spot Instances

③ Comparison of infrastructure services

Choose the right cloud provider

Foreign cloud providers such as AWS have the top market share both in Japan and around the world, but if you don't have any particular preferences, one option is to use other cloud providers or use other cloud services in combination

For example, if you use Oracle Cloud, a cloud provider made overseas, you can reduce costs because the original service unit price is low, and if you use Cloudflare for the CDN (Content Delivery Network) part, there is no pay-per-use charge for data transfer volume (excluding the Enterprise plan)

Additionally, if you use a Japanese cloud provider such as Sakura Internet, the service is not affected by the USD exchange rate and there are no pay-per-use data transfer fees (except for some services such as CDN), making it easier to keep track of your monthly budget

Use an on-premise infrastructure environment

Depending on the use and purpose of the system or application, you can use an on-premise (physical server) environment, or, as an extreme option, migrate from the cloud to an on-premise infrastructure environment

With on-premises, you manage your infrastructure environment in your own facilities or at a data center of your choice, allowing you to control infrastructure costs without relying on cloud provider service fees

Of course, you will need to predict in advance the initial investments such as purchasing the initial hardware and laying network lines, as well as how to cover the regular costs of maintaining and updating the hardware, but in most cases you will be able to operate at a fixed cost in the long term, making it easier to plan your cost budget

However, using an on-premise infrastructure environment or migrating to an on-premise environment requires careful consideration, as it depends on the needs and objectives of the company or organisation

● Please tell me the comparison and differences between cloud servers and on-premise (physical servers)
https://beyondjapan.com/pt-faq/server-comparison

4) Strengthening cost awareness within the company

Cost awareness and training

In order to reduce the cost of cloud services, it is important that all employees in the company are cost-conscious. It is important to promote a change in mindset toward cost reduction and reduce unnecessary resource usage

In addition, proper training for members is also necessary to effectively use cloud services. By learning how to use cloud services efficiently and best practices for reducing costs, you can expect to reduce cloud usage fees

Reduce hidden costs

The best way to achieve cost reductions with cloud services is to do so using only your own internal resources, but depending on the situation of your company or organization, your internal resources may not be enough

For example, you might be in a situation where you are focusing on your core business and are unable to handle tasks in this area, or you no longer have engineers who can handle cloud services or infrastructure, or your internal team members lack the technical skills to do so. In this situation, if you try to cover the costs using only your own internal resources, it could result in extra man-hours and effort, which could lead to "hidden costs" ballooning, and in the worst case scenario, you might encounter problems such as "cloud configuration failure causing the system to stop working."

In such cases, consider outsourcing advice and operations for your company's cloud and infrastructure environment to an MSP (managed service provider)

An MSP is a business that provides professional system construction, operation, maintenance, and monitoring services for companies and organizations' IT infrastructure (servers, networks, databases, etc.) and applications. In addition to providing ongoing technical support such as system updates, security management, data backups, and recovery support in the event of system failure, some MSPs also provide consulting services using their cloud technology and knowledge

Please note that different MSP vendors have different support systems, scopes, areas of expertise, and fee structures, so we recommend selecting an MSP vendor that best suits your company

summary

Above, we have introduced ways to cut costs on cloud usage fees

Cost reduction is one of the challenges facing companies and organizations. It is important to always have these options available, use them appropriately depending on the situation, and make decisions accordingly

Beyond supports and partners with a variety of cloud providers a multi-cloud environment , so we can offer cloud services at significantly lower prices than standard rates.

Additionally, Beyond's in-house WordPress cloud server service, " Web Speed ," also has a fixed monthly cloud usage fee. Please consider this service as well.