Stop losing money! How to make cloud cost strategies genuinely cost-effective

Managing cloud costs isn’t just an ongoing job – for many partners, it’s an uphill battle. Complex pricing structures, hidden expenses, and manual processes make it hard to stay on top of budgets. These challenges can lead to wasted spend, strained customer relationships, and lost opportunities to drive real efficiency.

And even strategies that seem like smart cost-saving moves – such as Reserved Instances (RIs) or overcommitting to vendor discounts – can backfire if they’re not done right.

So, how do you avoid getting caught out? Jacquie Young, Managing Director – Cloud, APAC at Westcon-Comstor shares her wisdom on how to effectively save cloud costs. 

RIs aren’t always the right answer

“Perhaps the biggest myth partners fall for is that RIs and Savings Plans are the ultimate cost-saving strategies,” Jacquie explains.

Yes, they can save you significant money, but as long-term commitments, they’re not always the best fit. “These strategies need you to have a deep understanding of your workloads, patterns, and – crucially – future usage trends. If your workloads are dynamic or unpredictable, RIs or Saving Plans could lead to underuse and wasted spend.”

So, before locking in long-term commitments, Jacquie recommends that you: 

• Optimise infrastructure: Right-size instances and turn off idle resources
• Modernise: Move to containerised or serverless models for more flexible, pay-as-you-go options
• Automate and ensure visibility: Use tools that track and alert in real time

Then, you can look at RIs and Saving Plans for workloads that remain stable. 

Stop managing cloud costs manually

If one thing has to go, it’s manual tagging and spreadsheet-based cost tracking. “They’re error-prone, time-consuming, and simply don’t scale,” Jacquie explains.

These approaches also pave the way for operational blind spots to creep in. It takes just one forgotten tag or incorrect label to totally lose track of a rogue instance.

“Instead, invest in modern FinOps tools that give real-time visibility into costs and can get deeper when needed. With the right tools to do the right heavy-lifting, you can focus on strategy, not firefighting.” 

For example:

• Set guardrails: Use budget enforcement mechanisms to keep runaway costs at bay
• Use tagging intelligently: Automate the process so all your resources are accounted for
• Get in-depth insights: Tools like AWS Cost Explorer can offer visibility beyond what spreadsheets can provide 

Overcommitment is not a strategy

Some partners try to drive cost efficiency by overcommitting to private pricing agreements or enterprise discount programs. In theory, it’s a genius move because you get a huge discount for the upfront commitment. But if you don’t have a clear plan for migrating workloads to match that commitment, you’re only going to be losing money.

Jacquie’s advice? Don’t be swayed by the immediate short-term saving. Only commit to plans if you know you’ll use the capacity you’re paying for.

It’s a journey, not a destination 

Cost optimisation is an ongoing process that can drive efficiency and unlock greater value for your business. But the key to doing it well is to move away from manual process and firefighting, and prioritise a smarter, more sustainable, and Future-Ready approach.

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