Cloud Cost Optimization: 11 Automation Strategies

As businesses increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, controlling cloud expenses has become crucial. This article explores 11 powerful automation strategies to optimize cloud costs and maximize your cloud ROI:

  1. Autoscaling: Automatically adjust resources based on demand to prevent over-provisioning.
  2. Cost Alerts: Receive notifications when spending exceeds set thresholds.
  3. Resource Utilization Monitoring: Identify idle and underutilized resources to optimize allocation.
  4. Resource Shutdown: Automatically turn off non-production resources when not needed.
  5. Security Vulnerability Management: Reduce risks and compliance costs through automation.
  6. Dynamic Scaling: Automatically adjust resources based on real-time needs.
  7. Automated Rightsizing: Provision correctly-sized resources from the start.
  8. Spot Instances: Leverage excess cloud capacity at lower costs.
  9. Cost Attribution: Accurately track spending by project or team.
  10. Cost Forecasting: Predict future expenditures for better budgeting.
  11. Resource Cleanup: Automatically remove unused resources to eliminate waste.

Implementing even a few of these strategies can lead to significant cost savings of 10-30% or more. As your cloud footprint grows, automation becomes essential for maintaining visibility and control over spending.

Quick Comparison:

Strategy Setup Difficulty Potential Savings Cloud Environments Scalability
Autoscaling Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Cost Alerts Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Resource Utilization Monitoring Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Resource Shutdown Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Security Vulnerabilities Management High 20-30% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Dynamic Resource Scaling Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Rightsizing Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Spot Instances Utilization Low 5-10% Public Medium
Automated Cost Attribution Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cost Forecasting Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cleanup of Unused Resources Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium

Don’t let cloud costs get out of hand. Take action now to automate your optimization efforts and reap the benefits of maximized cloud efficiency and reduced expenditures.

Managing Cloud Costs with Automation

As businesses increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, controlling cloud expenses has become crucial. The cloud offers scalability, but proactive financial oversight ensures you get the best value for your money.

This article explores 11 automation strategies to optimize cloud costs and maximize your cloud ROI. From autoscaling to automated cost forecasting, we’ll cover best practices and techniques to help you achieve cost efficiency.

Why Cloud Cost Optimization Matters

Benefit Description
Cost Control Automation helps identify and eliminate unnecessary spending, reducing overall cloud costs.
Scalability As your business grows, automation ensures resources scale efficiently, preventing over-provisioning and wastage.
Visibility Automated monitoring and reporting provide clear insights into cloud usage and spending patterns.
Compliance Automation aids in adhering to budgetary constraints and organizational policies.

Key Automation Strategies

Here are 11 powerful automation strategies to optimize your cloud costs:

1. Autoscaling

Automatically adjust resources based on demand, scaling up or down as needed. This prevents over-provisioning and ensures you only pay for what you use.

2. Automated Monitoring and Alerts

Continuously monitor cloud usage and costs, with alerts for anomalies or overspending. This enables proactive cost management.

3. Automated Cost Forecasting

Use historical data and machine learning to predict future costs, enabling better budgeting and planning.

4. Automated Resource Scheduling

Schedule resources to start and stop based on usage patterns, reducing costs for idle resources.

5. Automated Rightsizing

Analyze resource utilization and automatically resize instances to match workload requirements, eliminating over-provisioning.

6. Automated Lifecycle Management

Automate the decommissioning of unused or obsolete resources, preventing unnecessary costs.

7. Automated Cost Allocation and Chargeback

Accurately allocate costs to specific teams, projects, or business units for better accountability and cost transparency.

8. Automated Policy Enforcement

Define and enforce policies for resource usage, access controls, and cost limits to prevent overspending.

9. Automated Discounts and Reservations

Leverage automation to take advantage of discounts, reserved instances, and other cost-saving options.

10. Automated Workload Migration

Migrate workloads to the most cost-effective cloud regions or services based on usage patterns and pricing.

11. Automated Cost Optimization Recommendations

Leverage cloud provider tools or third-party solutions to receive automated recommendations for cost optimization opportunities.

Understanding Cloud Cost Management

Managing cloud costs is crucial as businesses increasingly rely on cloud services. Overspending on cloud resources can quickly add up, reducing your return on investment (ROI). Manually tracking and optimizing cloud costs can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

Cloud Cost Optimization 1.0 focused on basic cost-cutting measures like rightsizing and reserved instances. Cloud Cost Optimization 2.0 takes a more strategic approach, using automation, machine learning, and FinOps (Financial Operations) principles to optimize costs.

FinOps combines financial management and cloud operations to control cloud spending. It promotes cost awareness, automates optimization, and leverages cloud technologies to drive business value. With FinOps, organizations move beyond basic cost-cutting to achieve sustainable optimization.

However, manual cloud cost management can be challenging, especially for large, complex cloud environments. Manual processes risk errors, overspending, and lack of visibility into costs. Automation provides a more efficient, accurate, and scalable approach.

In the next section, we’ll explore how automation benefits cloud cost control, scalability, visibility, and compliance.

Benefits of Automating Cloud Cost Management

Automation streamlines cloud cost optimization, providing key advantages like:

Real-time Cost Monitoring

  • Automated tools track cloud spending in real-time
  • Identify inefficiencies and areas for cost savings quickly
  • Take immediate action to reduce waste and overspending

Automated Cost Allocation

  • Automatically assign costs to specific teams or projects using tags
  • Generate accurate showback reports for cost transparency
  • Pinpoint high-spending areas for optimization

Dynamic Resource Scaling

Benefit Description
Efficient Scaling Resources automatically scale up or down based on demand
Cost Savings Only pay for resources you actually use
Reduced Manual Effort No need for constant monitoring and manual scaling

Increased Efficiency and Accuracy

  • Eliminates human error from manual processes
  • Automation tools analyze large data sets rapidly
  • Identify cost-saving opportunities in real-time
  • Optimize resource allocation with precision

By automating cloud cost management, businesses gain:

  • Continuous visibility into spending
  • Accurate cost allocation and reporting
  • Dynamic resource scaling for efficiency
  • Reduced errors and manual effort

Automation ensures cloud costs remain optimized as environments change, maximizing ROI.

1. Autoscaling

Easy to Implement

Autoscaling is a straightforward process, especially when using cloud providers with built-in autoscaling features. The main task is defining the scaling policies and ensuring the infrastructure can handle scaling demands. Automation tools and cloud management platforms simplify the implementation process.

Cost Savings

Autoscaling leads to cost savings by allocating resources only when needed. This approach eliminates overprovisioning, which wastes resources and money. By scaling up or down based on demand, organizations optimize their cloud spending and reduce costs.

Suitable for Various Environments

Autoscaling is suitable for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It’s useful for applications with variable workloads, such as those with seasonal spikes or unpredictable traffic. Autoscaling can be applied to different resources, including virtual machines, containers, and databases.

Scalability

Autoscaling enables organizations to scale resources quickly and efficiently, ensuring they can handle increasing workloads without downtime or performance issues. This scalability is crucial for businesses experiencing rapid growth or sudden demand spikes. By automating the scaling process, resources are always aligned with business needs.

Benefit Description
Cost Optimization Resources are only allocated when needed, reducing waste and unnecessary expenses.
Flexibility Scaling up or down based on demand ensures resources match workload requirements.
Efficiency Automated scaling eliminates the need for manual monitoring and adjustments.
Performance Scaling prevents performance degradation during high-demand periods.

2. Cost Alerts

Simple Setup

Setting up cost alerts is a straightforward process, especially when using cloud providers with built-in alert features. The main task is defining the alert thresholds and ensuring proper configuration. Automation tools and cloud management platforms can simplify the setup.

Cost Savings

Cost alerts help identify and prevent unexpected cost spikes, leading to significant savings. By setting alerts for unusual cost patterns or thresholds, you can quickly respond to cost anomalies and avoid unnecessary expenses. This approach ensures resources are optimized and costs align with business needs.

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Cost alerts are useful for public, private, and hybrid clouds. They are particularly helpful for applications with variable workloads or unpredictable traffic, as they identify cost-saving opportunities and prevent cost overruns.

Benefit Description
Cost Optimization Identifying and preventing cost spikes ensures resources are optimized and costs align with business needs.
Proactive Cost Management Cost alerts enable quick response to cost anomalies, preventing unnecessary expenses.
Versatility Cost alerts can be applied to various resources, including virtual machines, containers, and databases, across different cloud environments.

3. Resource Utilization Monitoring

Simple Setup

Setting up resource utilization monitoring is straightforward, especially when using cloud providers with built-in monitoring features. The main task is configuring the monitoring parameters and ensuring proper setup. Automation tools and cloud management platforms can simplify the process.

Cost Savings

Effective resource utilization monitoring leads to cost savings. By identifying underutilized or idle resources, you can:

  • Rightsize resources to match your needs
  • Terminate unused instances
  • Optimize resource allocation

This approach ensures you only pay for the resources you actually use, reducing waste and optimizing cloud expenses.

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Resource utilization monitoring is useful for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps optimize resource allocation, reduce costs, and improve application performance across different cloud deployment models.

Benefit Description
Cost Optimization Identify underutilized resources to reduce waste and optimize cloud expenses.
Efficient Resource Allocation Ensure resources are allocated efficiently, improving application performance and reducing costs.
Scalability Scalable monitoring solutions accommodate growing cloud environments, providing real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.

Scalability

Look for monitoring solutions that can handle large volumes of data, provide real-time insights, and support multiple cloud providers and resources. This ensures your monitoring solution can keep pace with your expanding cloud infrastructure.

4. Resource Shutdown

Easy Setup

Setting up resource shutdown automation is straightforward, especially when using cloud providers with built-in features. The main task is configuring the shutdown parameters and ensuring proper setup. Automation tools and cloud management platforms can simplify the process.

Cost Savings

Automating resource shutdown leads to significant cost savings:

  • Unused or idle resources are automatically shut down
  • You only pay for resources you actually use
  • Reduces waste and optimizes cloud expenses

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Resource shutdown automation works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps optimize resource allocation, reduce costs, and improve application performance across different cloud deployment models.

Benefit Description
Cost Optimization Identify and shut down underutilized resources to reduce waste and optimize cloud expenses.
Efficient Resource Allocation Ensure resources are allocated efficiently, improving application performance and reducing costs.
Scalability Scalable automation solutions accommodate growing cloud environments, providing real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.

5. Security Vulnerabilities Management

Simple Setup

Setting up automated security vulnerabilities management is straightforward, especially when using cloud providers with built-in features. The main task is configuring the security parameters and ensuring proper setup. Automation tools and cloud management platforms can simplify the process.

Cost Savings

Automating security vulnerabilities management can reduce costs by:

  • Minimizing the risk of security breaches and associated expenses
  • Eliminating the need for manual security checks and remediation
  • Optimizing resource allocation and preventing waste

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Security vulnerabilities management automation works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps maintain consistent security configurations, reduces human error, and improves compliance across different cloud deployment models.

Benefit Description
Consistent Security Ensures security configurations are applied consistently across cloud environments.
Reduced Human Error Automation minimizes the risk of mistakes in manual security checks and remediation.
Improved Compliance Helps organizations meet security and compliance requirements across different cloud models.

Scalability

Scalable automation solutions can handle growing cloud environments, providing real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources. This enables organizations to maintain a strong security posture while scaling their cloud infrastructure.

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6. Dynamic Resource Scaling

Simple Setup

Setting up dynamic resource scaling is straightforward, especially when using cloud providers with built-in autoscaling features. The main task is configuring the scaling parameters and ensuring proper setup. Automation tools and cloud management platforms simplify the process.

Cost Savings

Dynamic resource scaling reduces costs by:

  • Automatically adjusting resources to match workload demands
  • Eliminating the need for manual scaling and provisioning
  • Optimizing resource utilization and preventing waste

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Dynamic resource scaling works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps maintain consistent resource allocation, reduces human error, and improves compliance across different cloud deployment models.

Benefit Description
Efficient Resource Allocation Resources are automatically scaled up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal utilization.
Reduced Human Error Automation minimizes mistakes in manual scaling and provisioning.
Improved Compliance Consistent resource configurations help meet organizational policies and requirements.

Scalability

Scalable dynamic scaling solutions can handle growing cloud environments, providing real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources. This enables organizations to maintain efficient resource management as their cloud infrastructure expands.

7. Automated Rightsizing

Automated rightsizing adjusts the size of cloud resources to match changing workload demands. This ensures optimal resource use and prevents waste.

Setup Complexity

Setting up automated rightsizing requires expertise in cloud infrastructure and automation tools. You’ll need to integrate rightsizing tools with your cloud management platform, configure scaling parameters, and ensure proper setup. However, automation tools can simplify this process.

Cost Savings

Automated rightsizing can lead to significant cost savings by:

  • Eliminating overprovisioned and idle resources
  • Optimizing resource utilization and reducing waste
  • Automatically scaling resources up or down based on workload demands

Cloud Environment Compatibility

Automated rightsizing works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps maintain consistent resource allocation, reduces human error, and improves compliance across different cloud models.

Scalability

Benefit Description
Handles Growth Scalable automated rightsizing solutions can handle growing cloud environments.
Multi-Cloud Support Provides real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.
Efficient Resource Management Enables organizations to maintain efficient resource management as their cloud infrastructure expands.

8. Spot Instances Utilization

Spot Instances offer a cost-effective way to utilize excess cloud capacity. By leveraging Spot Instances, you can benefit from discounts of up to 90% compared to On-Demand pricing, significantly reducing your cloud costs.

Simple Setup

Setting up Spot Instances is straightforward:

  1. Integrate Spot Instance requests with your cloud management platform.
  2. Configure scaling parameters.
  3. Ensure proper setup.

Automation tools can simplify this process.

Cost Savings

Spot Instances can lead to substantial cost savings by:

Benefit Description
Utilize Excess Capacity Use excess cloud capacity at a lower cost.
Reduce Waste Minimize idle resources and associated costs.
Automatic Scaling Resources automatically scale up or down based on workload demands.

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Spot Instances work for public, private, and hybrid clouds. They help:

  • Maintain consistent resource allocation
  • Reduce human error
  • Improve compliance across different cloud models

Scalability

Benefit Description
Handles Growth Scalable Spot Instance solutions accommodate growing cloud environments.
Multi-Cloud Support Provides real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.
Efficient Resource Management Enables efficient resource management as your cloud infrastructure expands.

9. Automated Cost Attribution

Simple Setup

Setting up automated cost attribution is a straightforward process, especially when compared to manual cost allocation methods. By using automation tools, you can easily assign costs to specific departments, projects, or resources. This eliminates the need for manual effort and reduces the risk of errors or inaccuracies.

Cost Savings

Automated cost attribution can lead to significant cost savings by providing accurate and transparent cost allocation. This allows you to identify areas of inefficiency and optimize your resource utilization, resulting in reduced waste and lower costs. With automated cost attribution, you can also benefit from improved budgeting and forecasting, enabling you to make more informed decisions about your cloud investments.

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Automated cost attribution works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. This is because automation tools can integrate with different cloud providers and resources, providing a unified view of costs across your entire cloud infrastructure. Whether you’re using AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or a combination of these, automated cost attribution can help you optimize your cloud costs and improve financial management.

Scalability

Benefit Description
Handles Growth Automated cost attribution solutions can handle growing cloud environments.
Multi-Cloud Support Provides real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.
Efficient Resource Management Enables organizations to maintain efficient resource management as their cloud infrastructure expands.

10. Automated Cost Forecasting

Automated cost forecasting uses machine learning models and past data to predict future cloud costs. This helps businesses make informed decisions about their cloud investments and avoid unexpected expenses.

Setting it Up

Setting up automated cost forecasting can be complex, especially for large cloud environments. It requires:

  • Integrating with various cloud providers
  • Collecting and processing large amounts of data
  • Developing accurate machine learning models

However, cloud cost management tools and automation platforms can simplify this process and provide ready-to-use solutions for automated cost forecasting.

Cost Savings

Automated cost forecasting can lead to significant cost savings by:

  • Identifying areas of inefficiency
  • Optimizing resource utilization
  • Right-sizing resources to match demand
  • Optimizing cloud pricing models
  • Identifying and eliminating unused or underutilized resources
  • Making informed decisions about cloud investments

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Automated cost forecasting works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. Cloud cost management tools can integrate with various cloud providers, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, providing a unified view of costs across your entire cloud infrastructure.

Scalability

Benefit Description
Handles Growth Automated cost forecasting solutions can handle growing cloud environments.
Multi-Cloud Support Provides real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources.
Efficient Resource Management Enables organizations to maintain efficient resource management as their cloud infrastructure expands.

11. Automated Cleanup of Unused Resources

Simple Setup

Setting up automated cleanup of unused resources is straightforward, especially when using cloud providers with built-in features. The main task is configuring the cleanup parameters and ensuring proper setup. Automation tools and cloud management platforms simplify the process.

Cost Savings

Automated cleanup of unused resources leads to significant cost savings:

  • Eliminates expenses on idle resources
  • Up to 30% of cloud resources are unused or underutilized, resulting in waste
  • Optimizes cloud spend and allocates resources efficiently

Suitable for All Cloud Environments

Automated cleanup works for public, private, and hybrid clouds. It helps:

  • Maintain consistent resource allocation
  • Reduce human error
  • Improve compliance across different cloud models

Scalability

Benefit Description
Handles Growth Automated cleanup solutions can handle growing cloud environments, identifying and eliminating unused resources as infrastructure expands.
Multi-Cloud Support Provides real-time insights across multiple cloud providers and resources, enabling businesses to optimize cloud spend across their entire infrastructure.
Efficient Resource Management Enables organizations to maintain efficient resource management as their cloud infrastructure expands, ensuring optimal resource allocation and minimized costs.

Comparing Cloud Cost Optimization Strategies

The table below compares the 11 cloud cost optimization strategies based on:

  • How complex they are to set up
  • How much they can potentially save on cloud costs
  • Which cloud environments they work for (public, private, or hybrid)
  • How well they can scale as your cloud usage grows
Strategy Setup Difficulty Potential Savings Cloud Environments Scalability
Autoscaling Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Cost Alerts Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Resource Utilization Monitoring Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Resource Shutdown Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Security Vulnerabilities Management High 20-30% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Dynamic Resource Scaling Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Rightsizing Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Spot Instances Utilization Low 5-10% Public Medium
Automated Cost Attribution Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cost Forecasting Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cleanup of Unused Resources Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium

This table gives you a quick overview to help choose the best strategies for optimizing your cloud costs.

Conclusion

Cloud costs can quickly get out of hand without proper management and optimization. Automating key processes is crucial as your cloud usage grows. The 11 automation strategies covered provide a toolkit for optimizing cloud spending:

1. Autoscaling matches resources to demand, preventing over-provisioning.

2. Cost alerts notify you when spending exceeds set thresholds.

3. Resource utilization monitoring identifies idle and underutilized resources.

4. Automated shutdown turns off non-production resources when not needed.

5. Security vulnerability management reduces risks and compliance costs.

6. Dynamic scaling automatically adjusts resources based on real-time needs.

7. Automated rightsizing provisions correctly-sized resources from the start.

8. Spot instances leverage excess cloud capacity at lower costs.

9. Automated cost attribution accurately tracks spending by project or team.

10. Cost forecasting predicts future expenditures for better budgeting.

11. Automated cleanup removes unused resources to eliminate waste.

Implementing even a few of these strategies can lead to significant cost savings of 10-30% or more. As your cloud footprint grows, automation becomes essential for maintaining visibility and control over spending.

Strategy Setup Difficulty Potential Savings Cloud Environments Scalability
Autoscaling Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Cost Alerts Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Resource Utilization Monitoring Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Resource Shutdown Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium
Security Vulnerabilities Management High 20-30% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Dynamic Resource Scaling Medium 15-25% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Rightsizing Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Spot Instances Utilization Low 5-10% Public Medium
Automated Cost Attribution Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cost Forecasting Medium 10-20% Public, Private, Hybrid High
Automated Cleanup of Unused Resources Low 5-10% Public, Private, Hybrid Medium

Don’t let cloud costs get out of hand. Take action now to automate your optimization efforts and reap the benefits of maximized cloud efficiency and reduced expenditures. The strategies outlined provide a clear roadmap – the key is getting started and continuously refining your automation processes as your needs evolve.

FAQs

How can I reduce cloud costs?

Here are some effective ways to cut down on cloud expenses:

  • Review pricing and billing: Regularly check your cloud provider’s pricing and billing details to identify areas for optimization.
  • Set budgets: Establish clear budgets for your cloud usage to avoid overspending.
  • Identify unutilized resources: Look for resources that are not being used and eliminate them.
  • Identify idle resources: Find resources that are running but not actively being used, and shut them down when not needed.
  • Right-size services: Ensure you’re using the appropriate service size for your workloads, not over-provisioning.
  • Use reserved instances: Take advantage of reserved instances for significant discounts on long-term commitments.
  • Leverage spot instances: Utilize spot instances to access spare computing capacity at lower costs.
  • Limit data transfer fees: Minimize data transfer costs by keeping data within the same cloud region or availability zone.

What’s the best way to optimize cloud costs?

The most effective approach combines multiple strategies:

  1. Review pricing and billing: Regularly analyze your cloud provider’s pricing and billing information.
  2. Set budgets: Establish clear budgets for your cloud usage to avoid overspending.
  3. Identify unutilized resources: Look for resources that are not being used and eliminate them.
  4. Identify idle resources: Find resources that are running but not actively being used, and shut them down when not needed.
  5. Right-size services: Ensure you’re using the appropriate service size for your workloads, not over-provisioning.
  6. Use reserved instances: Take advantage of reserved instances for significant discounts on long-term commitments.
  7. Use savings plans: Consider savings plans offered by cloud providers for additional discounts.
  8. Leverage spot instances: Utilize spot instances to access spare computing capacity at lower costs.

How can I optimize billing costs in the cloud?

Here are some ways to optimize billing costs in the cloud:

Strategy Description
Identify mismanaged resources Look for resources that are not being used efficiently or are over-provisioned.
Monitor cost anomalies Set up alerts to detect unusual spikes in costs, allowing you to take action quickly.
Use autoscaling Automatically scale resources up or down based on demand, reducing costs during periods of low usage.
Use reserved instances Take advantage of reserved instances for significant discounts on long-term commitments.
Consider microservices Moving to a microservices architecture can help optimize resource usage and costs.
Use heat maps Visualize system usage patterns to identify areas for optimization.
Right-size computing services Ensure you’re using the appropriate service size for your workloads, not over-provisioning.
Evaluate multi-cloud vs. single-cloud Assess whether a multi-cloud or single-cloud strategy is more cost-effective for your needs.

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