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Is your cloud bill spiraling out of control? Are you struggling to make sense of complex pricing models and discount options? You’re not alone. Many organizations miss out on significant cost savings by failing to leverage Reserved Instances (RIs), Committed Use Discounts (CUDs), and Savings Plans. These programs, offered by major cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, can drastically reduce your cloud spend. But navigating the intricacies of each program can be daunting. That’s where XTIVIA’s expertise comes in.
The Power of Commitment: Why Discount Programs Matter
Cloud providers offer substantial discounts for committing to using their services for a specified period, typically one or three years. This commitment enables them to plan their infrastructure and capacity more effectively, and they pass those savings on to you. However, choosing the right program and optimizing your commitments requires careful analysis and strategic planning.
XTIVIA: Your Guide to Cloud Cost Optimization
At XTIVIA, we specialize in helping businesses optimize their cloud spend across multiple platforms. We understand the nuances of each provider’s discount programs and can guide you through the process of selecting and managing your commitments for maximum savings.
Decoding the Discount Programs: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud
Let’s break down the specifics of these discount programs for each primary cloud provider:
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS offers several discount options:
- Reserved Instances (RIs): RIs provide a significant discount (up to 75%) compared to On-Demand pricing in exchange for a 1- or 3-year term commitment. You can choose between different RI types:
- Standard RIs: Offer the most significant discount, but cannot be changed during the term.
- Convertible RIs: Offer a reduced discount, allowing you to modify the instance family, operating system, or tenancy during the term.
- Scheduled RIs: Available for recurring, predictable workloads.
- Savings Plans: Provide a flexible pricing model that offers lower prices on EC2, Lambda, and Fargate usage. You commit to a specific dollar amount of compute usage per hour for 1 or 3 years.
- Compute Savings Plans: Offer the most flexibility and apply to EC2 instances, Lambda, and Fargate regardless of instance family, size, AZ, region, OS, or tenancy.
- EC2 Instance Savings Plans: Provide discounts on EC2 instance usage within a specific instance family in a region.
Technical Details (AWS):
- RI Attributes: RIs are purchased with specific attributes like instance type, region, Availability Zone (AZ), tenancy, and operating system.
- Savings Plan Commitment: Savings Plans involve committing to an hourly spend amount rather than specific instances.
- Billing: Both RIs and Savings Plans are applied automatically to your usage, and you’re billed upfront or monthly, depending on your payment option.
Microsoft Azure
Azure offers:
- Reserved Virtual Machine Instances (RIs): Azure RIs allow you to save up to 72% compared to pay-as-you-go pricing by committing to 1 or 3 years of usage for specific virtual machines.
- Azure Savings Plans for Compute: Offer savings of up to 65% compared to pay-as-you-go prices by committing to spend a fixed hourly amount on compute services for 1 or 3 years. This applies to VMs, Azure Container Instances, and Azure Functions.
Technical Details (Azure):
- RI Scope: Azure RIs can be scoped to a subscription or a resource group.
- Savings Plan Flexibility: Azure Savings Plans for Compute offer flexibility across different VM sizes, regions, and operating systems within the compute services scope.
- Billing: Azure RIs and Savings Plans are billed monthly, and the discounts are automatically applied to eligible usage.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
GCP provides:
- Committed Use Discounts (CUDs): GCP CUDs offer significant discounts (up to 57% for compute and even more for sustained use discounts) in exchange for a 1- or 3-year commitment to using specific resources, such as VMs, GPUs, and sole-tenant nodes.
- Committed Use Discounts for Compute: Offer discounts on vCPUs and memory usage for Compute Engine VMs.
- Sustained Use Discounts: Automatically applied discounts for running Compute Engine VMs for a significant portion of the billing month.
- Savings Plans: Offer savings of up to 66% compared to on-demand prices by committing to spend a fixed hourly amount on compute services for 1 or 3 years. This applies to VMs, Google Kubernetes Engine, and Cloud Functions.
Technical Details (GCP):
- CUD Commitment: GCP CUDs require you to commit to a specific amount of vCPUs and memory in a region.
- Savings Plan Regions: GCP Savings Plans are regional, and you commit to spending in a specific region.
- Billing: GCP CUDs and Savings Plans are billed monthly, and the discounts are automatically applied to eligible usage.
How XTIVIA Helps You Maximize Savings
- Usage Analysis: We analyze your historical cloud usage patterns to identify opportunities for RI, CUD, and Savings Plan purchases.
- Recommendation Engine: We use sophisticated tools and our expertise to recommend the optimal mix of discount programs and commitment terms.
- Purchase and Management: We assist with the purchase and management of your commitments, ensuring they align with your evolving needs.
- Ongoing Optimization: We continuously monitor your usage and adjust your commitments as needed to maximize savings and avoid overspending.
Stop Overpaying for Cloud: Partner with XTIVIA
Don’t leave money on the table. Let XTIVIA help you navigate the complexities of Reserved Instances, Committed Use Discounts, and Savings Plans, and unlock massive cloud savings. Contact us today for a free consultation and start optimizing your cloud spend.