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HEALTHCARE

Cloud Cost Optimization

Headstorm implemented a Storage Cloud optimization solution for a leading healthcare technology company.

Results  |  Background  |  What we did

Results

As a result of our work, the Storage Cloud solution now enables effortless access to all data, eliminating the necessity for tiering and eradicating any charges for data retrieval or access.

Data Accessibility Improved

Removed costly retrieval practices by un-tiering data, establishing a storage cloud for complete ready access to data at all times without delay

Reduced Egress

Identified and removed unneeded data transfers and implemented private connectivity to secure and reduce data egress

Reduced Total Cloud Spend

Helped remove siloed data and minimized the need for duplicate or stale data. Identified other options for data storage besides traditional tiering – reducing egress and access charges

Background

Dallas

The organization lacked the ability to accurately predict cloud storage costs and a robust predictable FinOps model. As a result, the organization incurred over 100k in unanticipated cloud storage spend, leading to financial inefficiencies. Additionally, data access was hindered due to tiering, resulting in delays and reduced productivity.

Team
  • Architect
 
Build type
  • Legacy & Hybrid
Tech stack
  • Azure/AWS
  • Lyve Cloud
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What we did

Where we started

Headstorm assisted in deciphering the precise cloud bill, going beyond mere glances. To excel in cloud cost management, we initiated the process by thoroughly comprehending the overall cloud pricing. This involved identifying the included charges and mapping each line item, enabling us to assess the distribution of cloud expenses and identify optimization opportunities for cost-efficiency.

Below are the key aspects we analyzed to gain a deeper understanding:
 
  • Compute Costs – These are charges for the processing power used. This pricing will depend on the types and sizes of virtual machines that are running. Prices may vary based on regional differences, reserved versus on-demand instances, or the use of spot instances. 
  • Storage Costs – These charges come from storing data in the cloud. Different storage types (e.g. object, block), redundancy options, and data retrieval and transfer fees can impact your total storage costs. 
  • Bandwidth Costs – These charges pertain to data movement in and out of your cloud environment and are commonly referred to as “egress costs.” They encompass intra-region and inter-region transfers, as well as transfers between your cloud and the internet. These costs can fluctuate significantly from month to month, particularly for bandwidth-intensive businesses. Unfortunately, they are often overlooked and accepted without much attention.
  • Discounts and Savings – Upfront payments, reserved instances, committed use contracts, and other discount programs are crucial. These initiatives have the potential to appear on the bill and reduce cloud services costs. Understanding the significance of these cost-saving mechanisms provide valuable insights for businesses aiming to optimize their cloud expenditure.

What we recommended

Headstorm collaborated closely with the client to implement the cloud cost recommendations effectively. Together, we successfully addressed and resolved the following issues:

  • Opt for the right storage type. Most cloud vendors offer various storage classes within block and object storage, ranging from high-performance to low-cost tiers. We recommend moving non-relevant backups and storage out of lower cost tiers to reduce egress. 
  • Reduce the use of lifecycle management features. Lifecycle management allows you to implement policies that move infrequently accessed data to lower-cost storage tiers over time or archive them. While this can be a cost-effective strategy – it can be cumbersome and result in data access delays. We removed storage tiering and implemented a storage cloud. 
  • Clean the storage tiers. Put in a policy to regularly audit storage and delete outdated or unused data. This included outdated backups, unused snapshots, or old data that no longer has business value and has cost retrieval and storage fees. 

What we achieved

Headstorm implemented a Storage Cloud that provided ready access to all data with no need for tiering, no access or data retrieval charges.
This resulted in:

  • Reducing storage sprawl across the different tiers and access layers
  • Reduced and eliminated egress charges or archive retrieval fees on cold storage cloud tiers
  • Established a predictable FinOps model for storage costs in a multi-cloud environment
The solution’s innovation stems from its utilization of a third-party storage cloud provider to enhance data accessibility while minimizing ingress/egress fees. This strategic approach facilitated quicker data access, eliminated unnecessary expenses, and surpassed the constraints associated with conventional tiering models. As a result, the company achieved an impressive 30% reduction in annual cloud expenditure.

Related work

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