How Managed Cloud Computing Services Reduce Total Cost of Ownership – Unlocking Cost Efficiency 

Business environments are in a period of rapid evolution. It’s more important than ever for businesses to align their technology investments with their growth objectives. Organizations continue to strive for relevancy in a competitive landscape. Decisions about IT infrastructure and managed solutions have moved to results-driven innovation. A 2024 Gartner report revealed that 62% of CEOs have cited their top business priority as growth. This is the highest level in more than a decade.  

As cloud computing has come to the forefront of computer development, it provides a key foundational starting point for this growth. It provides scalable solutions with the flexibility and speed to not only accelerate product development but also optimize operations to seek out new markets and dominate. 

Organizations have understood the benefits of utilizing cloud services, but many have yet to reap the financial benefits. Many times, cloud spending can spiral out of control when not properly managed by insightful, professional guidance. When this happens, organizations can find themselves overwhelmed with governance risks, hidden costs, and inefficiency. 

That’s where managed cloud computing services come in. This is a strategic solution that empowers businesses. It reduces the total cost of ownership while enhancing performance, freeing up key staff members to focus on business innovation. 

Understanding Total Cost of Ownership in the Cloud

The comprehensive sum of all direct and indirect costs in cloud computing is known as the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Deployment and management costs for the lifecycle of the cloud infrastructure are also included. 

Every cost can be categorized in two ways: 

• Direct costs: These are all costs associated with software licenses, networking costs, computer resources, and data transfer. This is particularly important when considering outbound egress charges. 

• Indirect costs: These are the costs of training, migration, maintenance, staff time, security, compliance, governance, and downtime risks. 

In most situations, cloud TCO is underestimated. This is often linked to an organizational lack of awareness of usage patterns and the layered interplay of services. For instance, data egress costs can rise unexpectedly or workloads may continue to run overprovisioned.  

There are many instances where businesses simply lack the proper tools and expertise to properly assess TCO in multi-cloud environments. Unfortunately, this leads to misaligned resources and no cost optimization. 

Regardless of the challenges, the cloud provides the best opportunity to act as a catalyst for business transformation. Deloitte found that 83% of enterprises reported that cloud investments helped to offset regulatory and business risks. Not only that, but 80% reported increased revenue from either service launches or new product development. It was also noted that 75% of businesses leveraged their cloud investments to enter new markets. 

It is critical to understand that these outcomes were not a result of merely investing in the cloud but in using those investments strategically and efficiently with expert management. 

How Managed Cloud Computing Services Lower TCO

Managed cloud computing services help to shift the burden from internal IT teams managing the organization’s infrastructure to external specialists. It reduces capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware and transforms cloud investments into predictable operational expense (OpEx) models. 

Those businesses investing in managed services gain: 

• End-to-end management: This means managed services start in the design and deployment phase and continue through optimization and monitoring. 

• Predictable costs: With this model, there are no reactive expenditures needed and no surprise charges for updates, support, or patching the environment. 

• Greater efficiency: It lowers the reliance on internal expertise and allows skilled professionals to take care of security, compliance, configuration, and performance. 

OTAVA provides a comprehensive suite of managed cloud solutions, including: 

• Private Cloud: Designed for organizations requiring dedicated resources with built-in compliance and full control. 

• Public Cloud: Suitable for flexible workloads and scalable environments that require expert governance. 

• Azure: For those enterprises in Microsoft ecosystems, providing full cost visibility and full lifecycle support. 

When organizations outsource operational management, they gain enterprise-grade cloud performance without the added expense of staff training to manage their new purchase. It lowers the overhead of hiring, training, and retaining certified personnel. 

Eliminating Hidden Costs Through Proactive Management

Many times, organizations are unaware of potential hidden costs in their IT environments. Generally created by underutilized or, in some cases, unused resources, they can be substantial. 

These hidden costs are easily identified through a managed services model. 

• Automation: Automated scripting can reduce human error and maximize resources. 

• Right-sizing: Determining the proper size and scope of your IT needs is easy with real-time monitoring measures. 

With OTAVA’s expertise in intelligent workload placement and Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Infrastructure platforms, costs are identified and verified. This helps identify the most effective environment for all applications and services, promoting seamless migration. 

When inefficiencies are identified and resolved through real-time monitoring, the associated costs are eliminated.

Built-In Compliance and Security as Cost Savers

One of the most time-consuming and costly expenses is maintaining regulatory compliance. This can be costly when managed internally. Organizations living in healthcare, retail, and finance, particularly require adherence to the following: 

• HIPAA 

• HITRUST 

• PCI-DSS 

• ISO 27001 

With OTAVA, these compliance standards are part of the service offering. Using our proprietary S.E.C.U.R.E.™ Framework, we provide certified, ready-to-use environments. These provide simplified auditing processes, lowering the legal risk and accelerating timelines. 

Through automated patch management, incident response, and threat detection, OTAVA offers highly effective cybersecurity practices. 

The novelty of proactive measures has worn off, and they are no longer a luxury but a necessity. According to IBM, every data breach carried a $4.45 million price tag. 

Maximizing ROI Through a Full-Lifecycle Cloud Strategy 

For organizations to maximize ROI, they should employ full-cycle strategies.   

• Assessment: Organizations need to map system interdependency to accurately ensure systems meet expectations. 

• Architecture & Design: It’s vital that infrastructure matches business objectives. 

• Migration: Seamlessly transition with minimal disruptions. 

• Real-time Management: With real-time monitoring, associated costs are easy to determine. 

• Optimization: The importance of identifying cost-saving measures can only be effective if they are addressed. 

• Decommissioning: Legacy systems have higher overhead costs. It’s important to decommission them and migrate to a newer platform. 

OTAVA’s Managed Microsoft Workload Migration services help organizations move complex workloads to Azure seamlessly. We provide dashboards and reporting tools offering real-time tracking of budgets and resource allocation. We also provide forecasted growth. 

Partner With OTAVA to Optimize Your Cloud Costs

Managed cloud computing services provide the solution for organizations looking to transform the cloud into a strategic business asset.  

Whether you’re launching your first cloud-native application, migrating legacy workloads, or reining in an out-of-control public cloud deployment, OTAVA delivers the tools, talent, and technology to make cloud cost-effective. 

Contact us today to discuss how OTAVA can help you unlock cost efficiency and maximize the value of your cloud investment.