Forecasts estimate global cloud spend to finally exceed a trillion dollars in 2026 (that’s TRILLion, with a “T”). Furthermore, approximately 30% of that is estimated to be wasted (that’s $300,000,000+). Reining in wasteful spending without compromising performance is a top to-do for CIOs this year, especially as enterprises start to focus on generating measurable ROI from the massive amounts invested in their AI projects in the cloud.
However, as IT teams rush to ensure their cloud infrastructures are configured for cost-effective operations, hastily made, yet well-intended decisions can actually snowball into mistakes that will end up costing even more down the road. Don’t let your cost optimization efforts fall into this same trap.
A key culprit
In today’s environment of cost-cutting pressures driven by volatile and fickle market conditions, a huge mistake often made by organizations is a failure to accurately measure and identify how (planned) infrastructure changes impact workload costs. Well-meaning infrastructure owners often take minor, organization-wide actions with good intentions but end up seeing highly unexpected results, which can lead to thousands of dollars in cloud charges.
For example, with cloud storage, owners might change a storage class to save money without fully understanding the access patterns around the objects involved. As a result, the following month’s bill may include thousands of dollars in fees for objects that are actually accessed regularly, obliterating any forecast savings.
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Destructive hazards
When it comes to cost-optimization risks, there are two levels of potentially destructive actions.
The first is the delay between implementing a change and realizing its impact. Going back to the storage example, unless operators receive regular reports on infrastructure-related costs, they likely will not detect an issue because, from a workload perspective, everything appears to function normally. No complaints means no investigation. If you implement a change on the 2nd of the month and only review costs when the bill arrives, a simple error can become a four or five-figure issue at billing time.
The second issue is that fixing these mistakes often tends to cost even more in capital – it’s not just about time or effort. Sticking with the storage example, changing an object’s storage class typically incurs a small charge; however, when dealing with hundreds of thousands of objects, those costs can add up quickly. The same applies to incorrect regional settings, overly aggressive backup schedules, etc.
Don’t be just another victim
Avoiding these kinds of risks requires a multifaceted approach. The first and most crucial step is to have a clear understanding of your infrastructure from a core-technology perspective. Not just the “stack” you run, but the infrastructure on which said stack runs. This can be achieved by either adding cloud infrastructure specialists to your team or by upskilling your current staff through targeted training and certifications.
The second aspect is to allocate time to test any infrastructure changes in a non-production environment and assess their impact on overall workload and costs. While this may slow your overall pace of innovation, it helps prevent more costly errors in manpower, time, and money.
Finally, work with a trusted partner. Well-known cloud resellers and partners offer extensive expertise, providing not only break-fix support but also the valuable human insight gained from guiding thousands of customers through similar challenges and helping them avoid adverse outcomes.
Recovering from a cost optimization mistake
Configuring your cloud and AI infrastructures to run efficiently requires time and trial and error. Once issues are discovered, recovery can begin.
After an unexpected cost increase, the immediate first step is to cease all further infrastructure changes until the cause has been thoroughly reviewed and identified. Following identification, a plan must be developed to reverse the change, taking care to anticipate any secondary costs or surprises that might arise. Simply undoing the action without this foresight often leads right back to the initial extra expenses.
Preventing these pitfalls in the future will depend on the organization, but common solutions include establishing an infrastructure steering committee or a Cloud Center of Excellence. These groups can create guidelines for provisioning and making infrastructure changes. For smaller teams, a straightforward playbook can be an effective and sufficient tool to avoid recurrence of these issues.
The bottom line
When approached correctly, cost optimization becomes more than just saving money. It can enable smarter innovation, stronger financial accountability, as well as more predictable ROI from cloud and AI investments. In a time when every dollar spent must prove value, avoiding optimization hazards isn’t just prudent — it is a business necessity. The organizations that succeed will be those that approach cost optimization as an ongoing operational capability rather than a reactive cost-cutting exercise.
Overall, any cost-optimization mistake should yield lessons learned to help increase your organizational maturity. Finding those lessons is a key part of recovery; otherwise, it’s just a mistake everyone wants to forget.
About The Author Of This Article
Eric Ethridge is a senior technical account manager at DoiT, where he guides customers of all sizes and industries through cloud adoption and optimization journeys. With over a decade of IT experience, including roles at AWS and the U.S. Air Force, Eric possesses a unique blend of technical expertise and strategic insight. He holds an MBA and multiple certifications in AWS and Google Cloud, focusing on helping customers economically scale their cloud-native architecture with robust cloud FinOps practices. Passionate about sharing knowledge, Eric is dedicated to empowering his customers to achieve their goals and thrive in their cloud journey.
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