How to gain more control over your cloud costs

If you want to store and use your data in a smart and ultra-secure way, the cloud is the way to go. But what if the price tag turns out to be higher than expected? Major hyperscalers tend to charge steeply. Choose the transparency of a local cloud provider, and gain more control over your cloud costs.

Knowing in advance what you’ll be paying is, in our opinion, one of the key reasons to go with a local cloud provider. As an entrepreneur, you need a clear understanding of your cloud expenses.

ITdaily analyzed a report by software company Flexera. What did they find? With major US players like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, cloud spending rises year over year. For many organizations, the final bill ends up being much higher than expected. That’s a real problem!

Budgets are naturally more limited for smaller companies than for large enterprises. Over half of smaller companies aim to keep their cloud spending under one million dollars a year, although a small minority spends more than ten million dollars annually.

For large enterprises, a yearly cloud bill of over 2.5 million dollars is more the rule than the exception.

from the ITdaily article (in Dutch)

"A pricing proposal from AWS? Nearly impossible"

“I hear it from multiple clients: hyperscalers are anything but transparent when it comes to pricing,” says Matthias Dekeyser, Solutions Sales Representative at Combell.

“Try requesting a custom pricing proposal from a provider like AWS—virtually impossible. Hyperscalers often charge for things like traffic, but you never know exactly how much. You can never accurately estimate your total cloud costs.”

At Combell, you always know what to expect! I don’t want my clients tripping over unpredictable cloud bills.

— Matthias Dekeyser, Solutions Sales Representative at Combell

Fixed monthly pricing

For clients—both smaller companies and larger enterprises—who want to make sure their cloud spending stays within budget, Matthias recommends the following:

“Have a conversation with a local cloud provider in Belgium or the Netherlands. At Combell, we offer a fixed monthly rate for managed cloud services.

That way, there are no surprises—you always know where you stand! I don’t want my clients facing unpredictable IT invoices.”

Local cloud: choose peace of mind

The last thing you want is for the cloud services you rely on to suddenly no longer fit within your budget. Meanwhile, the big players rake in the millions—under the approving eye of a government engaged in a trade war.

A local cloud expert can actually offer you cost certainty. In addition to setting your own capacity and benefiting from scale, your pricing becomes far more predictable.

When you choose the Combell cloud, you get much better insight into your monthly expenses. You only pay for what you actually use—with a clear agreement in advance. Talk about peace of mind!