How to stabilize your Cloud Costs in the age of COVID-19

By this point, you probably have noticed the new cloud invoices have started coming in. A few new conferencing vendors here, some new collaboration tools there. These new services have helped your employees to be more productive, but they have no idea how it’s impacting the IT budget, the accounting teams, or the IT director’s stress level. Regardless, these new expenses are here, and now it’s time to do something with them.   

The first step in getting these new charges under control is to understand what you are dealing with. Categorizing the new services by their core purpose. Determine which are invoices related to each specific cloud service, such as video-conferencing, VoIP, anti-virus, or VPN. Knowing what services you are working with will not only help accounting to properly cost allocate the expenses, but it will also give you a starting point on how to stabilize them.   

Now that your new cloud costs are identified and categorized, it’s time to start looking for ways to consolidate services for governance and cost savings. Lets say, for example, that a good amount of the new invoices are for video-conferencing services. Some things to consider are… 

• Can you standardize on a single vendor for each cloud service?  
• Can you establish a corporate account or volume licensing for reduced pricing/cost? 
• Which budget or department will cover these new costs?  
• Are there any governance or security implications from using the cloud services?  

There are many other issues to consider in addressing your new and unexpected cloud cervices costs but the questions above are a good starting point.  The sooner you can stabilize your cloud costs, the sooner you’ll be able to start focusing on business strategies for moving forward in the age of COVID-19.  

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you are not alone. Our clients have been overwhelmed with an increased work load, reduced staff, and new challenges. Finding the time to stabilize new and unexpected cloud costs is not always an option.  If you don’t have the resources to deal with these issues, an experienced TEM provider like 4TelecomHelp can offer relief. Contact us for details.