Need to Get More Value Out of the Cloud? Think Cloud Expense Management   

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With today’s uncertain economic climate, enterprises across all industries are feeling the pressure to cut spending. IT organizations are no exception. And yet, at the same time, they are being asked to drive innovation, transform systems, and modernize technology in order to successfully compete in the market. Doing more with less is no small task, which is why more businesses are turning to cloud.  

Cloud is the Innovation Catalyst but Only 10% See Value

Despite the continued rise of costs, there’s a massive trend towards adoption of cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS). In fact, it’s being touted by Deloitte as the “cornerstone of digital strategy.” It is the catalyst businesses need to innovate. In a recent interview by VentureBeat, Adam Ronthal, a Gartner data management analyst confirmed that “Cloud will be the top trend that underpins everything else. We’re seeing a shift in the market right now.” From public cloud to hybrid, single provider, or multi-cloud environments, the landscape varies. Companies are adopting various migration/implementation strategies that work best for them and aligns with their business objectives.  

So, why is it that in a Cloud Business Survey by PwC, only 10% of CIOs are seeing the value of cloud despite that fact that almost 80% reported to having migrated from full on-prem infrastructure? If cloud is here to stay, why is the rate of adoption not syncing with the realization of value?  

Perhaps it’s because something is missing in the equation. And that something is a Cloud Expense Management (CEM) strategy with automated optimization capabilities.  

The Missing Piece: Cloud Expense Management

Tangoe One CEM for IaaS is a lifecycle CEM solution for enterprises of all sizes that helps maximize the value of your cloud investment while virtually paying for itself. It provides unparalleled visibility and tighter control and governance of your entire multi-cloud environment. Customized real-time data and analytics powered by automated, AI-driven tools give you that complete picture you may have been missing all along. It covers everything from spend, inventory, invoice to usage management. Pair that with an AI-engine automating optimization and providing recommendations you can act on instantly and you have a tool that easily builds a business case for adoption. Plus, you get it all from one single platform.  

Features and Benefits 

  • A holistic view of all billed public cloud services from one pane of glass to drive strategic decisions  
  • Custom financial operations (FinOps) reporting and analysis for both executives and day-to-day users  
  • Cost optimization via active cost center maintenance and account tracking 
  • Recover cloud costs and gain full reimbursement by more granularly managing cloud cost allocations with the ability to customize chargebacks, showbacks, and uplifts for each business unit 
  • Rule-based resource tagging with exception reporting helps track and manage cloud expenses and identify services 
  • End-to-end invoice management with the ability to customize and accelerate approval processes  

How CEM Improves Financial Operations to Drive Efficiency

Ensure Cloud Users Pay Their Fair Share: Active Cost Center and Account Tracking 

Streamline Finops processes to ensure costs are being allocated properly so that the right stakeholders pay their fair share. With an automated,Active Cost Center and Account Tracking” Tangoe:   

1. Validates that cost centers and accounts are active by leveraging usage data.  

2. Ensures service costs are charged to the correct business unit by monitoring critical fields in the data.  

3. Identifies services tagged with incorrect cost centers via daily reports.  

4. Makes any necessary corrections immediately to aid in recovery. 

Gain Productivity: Tagging for Expense Management 

Tangoe One CEM delivers the visibility you need to understand what is being used and applies custom business rules for cloud spend that isn’t tagged. That way, you can be sure your cloud financials are:  

  • Accurately and equitable assigned and charged-back to the appropriate cost centers incurring the expense  
  • Allocated with flexibility, allowing you to amortize large cloud financial investments  
  • Audited to ensure billing stops when a cloud service has been removed 

Conclusion: Shift to Strategic Work by Cutting through Data Silos  

As an IT or procurement leader, you need to balance governance with collaboration and productivity. At the same time, you’re also managing a hefty budget. However, it’s time you get out of the weeds and shift the focus to driving strategy and innovation. That’s the power of Tangoe One CEM. 

It helps you cut through the data siloes, bridging the gap with key stakeholders across HR, Finance and Procurement, while integrating with enterprise financial/accounting and HRIS business systems.  

  • Save your team countless hours creating manual reports and processing and paying invoices  
  • Leverage powerful optimization features that you won’t get from your individual cloud portals to help you scale/right-size cloud resources  
  • Get real-time alerts and continuous monitoring that always keep you informed for financial purposes as well as compliance oversight 

In the end, you’ll be able to do more with less and make data-driven decisions, resulting in better business outcomes. That means determining where best to allocate resources, budget and focus your efforts. All of which play a key role in realizing the full potential of cloud. Want to learn more on all the various use cases and savings opportunities you can realize with Tangoe One CEM for IaaS?  

Download the IaaS Insights report, “Today’s IaaS Challenges and How to Overcome Them.”