Seven Factors To Figure Out The Cost Components Of Cloud Data Storage

The cost factor is likely to be high up on your list of factors to consider while contemplating moving your data assets to the cloud.

Over the last few years, cloud computing has emerged as a transformative technology for businesses of all sizes. It helps enterprises drastically reduce IT costs, enable on-demand scalability, and boost efficiencies, among other benefits.

While moving to the cloud has become a no-brainer, it is crucial to understand the different costs involved. The most obvious cost is the storage cost. There are several options available for cloud storage, including Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage and Google Drive, among others. It might be tempting to go for the cheapest cloud storage option, but it is best to understand the cost components so that the indirect costs don’t catch you off guard.

Here’s a Quick Guide to Understanding the Cloud Data Storage Cost Components

Storage Capacity of Cloud

Cloud computing employs a pay-as-you-use model. So, the most significant component of cloud computing cost is the storage fee. This is directly proportionate to the amount of data stored. Typically, it is calculated per GB of data that is stored on the cloud. The fee is paid on a monthly basis. The second factor here is the storage tier. If you want to access your data immediately, the cost will be higher, as opposed to allowing a delay of a few hours.

Network cost 

There is a fee levied every time you move data out of the cloud. You could be moving data to another cloud location within the server’s network, or to a different provider, or even to your own on-premise datacentre. This is called the network fee or egress fee and is incurred even when you replicate data in the cloud to build resiliency for the business.

Transaction fee

This is a small cost but needs to be considered nonetheless. Every transaction between your business applications and the cloud attracts a fee. This could include scanning the repository, listing the cloud contents, copying data within the same cloud, and so on. Cloud providers usually charge less than a dollar for, say, 100,000 transactions a month. However, these transactions can quickly add up if you do not track them.

Data Management

Data in the cloud is invaluable to informed decision-making. But you need to actively manage it to ensure it is readily available and accessible. Data management helps acquire, process, organize and store data efficiently in the cloud. It tracks what information is where so that it can be easily retrieved. It also helps continuously monitor data in the cloud to ensure everything is in ship shape and flag off suspicious activity. This is an indirect cost but can make your IT budget go awry.

Data Security

Security of your data in the cloud is paramount. It is imperative to ensure your data is secured while in transit and at rest. One can be done through encryption technologies. There is also the issue of managing access to the data. Identity and Access Management (IAM) technology becomes pivotal to ensure no unauthorized personnel can access the data in the cloud. This helps keep cybercriminals at bay as well as take care of insider threats. Then, there is the added cost of building firewalls, meeting compliance requirements, conduction security audits, and more. Parablu’s next-gen technologies, such as BluVault and BluKrypt, protect your data in the cloud at all times by robust encryption and managing access to your business-critical data.

Data Backup

Backup is an essential part of every disaster recovery plan. Hence, it is crucial that you backup critical information on the cloud. The process of duplicating your data will attract a separate cost. There will be the storage cost of another cloud, which will increase by 100%, backup software, cost of migration, and managing and maintaining the backup data. This is a crucial cost component and should be built into your cloud strategy.

Data migration

When you decide to move to the cloud, you need to conduct thorough due diligence, as the cost of moving your data away from your cloud provider is tremendous. If you are unhappy with your provider’s service or feel that their charge is on the higher side, switching to a new provider will hit your IT budget. There will be an egress fee levied to pull your data out of your provider’s cloud, loss of valuable time that will impact your business, and possible downtime.

Be sure to assess all these costs when creating your cloud strategy. It will help you factor in all cost components of cloud storage so that you are not blindsided when the bill arrives, and your cloud journey is smooth and seamless.