What should my cloud cost?
Six figures tell you most of what a cloud bill has to say. Ask whoever runs the account for each one, write it down, and bring the question beside it to your next meeting. Print this page or copy the table.
The six figures
| Figure | Where to find it | Your number | The question to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total for last month | The invoice total, before credits. | $ | Is this the number we budgeted? |
| Total for the same month last year | The same invoice, twelve months back. | $ | Did the bill grow faster than our customers did? |
| Data sent out to the internet | Usually labeled data transfer or egress. | $ | What is sending it, and to whom? |
| Support plan | The plan name and its monthly charge. | $ | Who opened a support case this year? |
| Servers nobody is using | Ask for anything idle for 30 days. | $ | Can we turn these off this week? |
| Your people’s time | Hours a month spent running it, times the cost of an hour. | $ | Is this the work we hired them for? |
Reading the result
Add the first, fourth and sixth figures. That sum is what the cloud costs your business each month, and the invoice shows only part of it.
A bill that grew faster than your customer count deserves an explanation, line by line. How to read a cloud bill in ten minutes walks through the lines that usually cause it.
Petrichor for business ownersGet a straight answer on what your cloud should cost
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