Cloud Management
Cloud cost review and management, without compromising on quality or security.
Cloud management is the discipline of running workloads on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), IBM Cloud, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean and other platforms (OVHcloud for international projects) at the lowest cost that still meets your reliability and security needs. Our team has worked across all of them and chooses the provider for the job, not the other way around.
Most companies discover that their cloud bill reflects decisions nobody remembers making. We find the idle resources, oversized instances and avoidable data-transfer charges, fix what is safe to fix immediately, and design a platform that stays economical as you grow.
At a glance
Every company has a cloud presence, basic or advanced. We specialize in all of them, and we review what you run and look for waste and a better fit for each workload.
The problem
Cloud bills grow quietly: idle resources, oversized instances, the wrong provider for the job. Few teams have the time to compare what each provider charges for each service. We review what you run, compare providers service by service and remove what you do not need.
Each provider prices compute, storage, bandwidth and managed services differently, and the cheapest option for one workload can be the most expensive for another. Comparing them properly takes time that internal teams rarely have, which is why savings so often sit unclaimed for years.
What we deliver
- Cost review and quick wins
- Architecture and security baseline
- Migration plans between providers or back on-premises
- Ongoing operations and a monthly cost report
A cost review is only the start. We also review identity and access, network exposure, logging and backups, because a cheap environment that is open to the internet is not a saving. The security baseline and the cost plan are delivered together.
If the right answer is to leave the cloud, or to move between providers, we plan that migration as carefully as the original deployment, including cutover steps, rollback and the documentation you need afterward.
Two articles cover the security side of the same decisions. "HIPAA and the Cloud" explains business associate agreements for Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Amazon Web Services, and "Backups That Actually Restore" shows why a second copy of your data in another region is a hurricane-season requirement as well as a cost line.
"Zero Trust for Mid-Size Firms" is the companion piece for cloud identity and network design: it explains how to grant access per request instead of trusting a network location.
Cloud is rarely only cloud. We connect your cloud networks to datacenters and offices with BGP, IPsec IKEv2 and WireGuard, and can stretch networks between facilities with VXLAN and EVPN when an application cannot be re-addressed.
If the right answer is to bring workloads into your own cage or to repatriate them from the cloud, our Datacenter & Colocation Builds practice builds the footprint, from site selection to burn-in.
Retention is a cloud design question as much as a security one. When a firm needs records it can prove were not altered, we build the archive on the provider's write-once storage: Amazon S3 Object Lock with AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Bucket Lock with Cloud KMS on Google Cloud, immutable storage for Blob Storage with Azure Key Vault on Microsoft Azure, or retention rules with OCI Vault on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The choice follows where the firm's mail and data already live, and the retention period, key ownership and restore tests are agreed in writing before anything is stored.
A Google Cloud landing zone built for a hurricane coast
Two regions outside the storm zone, a Shared VPC hub in each, guardrails set once at the organization, and two Partner Interconnect links through different carriers into different metro locations, with an HA VPN as the last resort. Staff reach apps through identity-aware access, not a VPN.
One key pattern on every cloud
AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure all run the same envelope pattern. A workload encrypts data with a data key, asks the provider's key service to wrap that data key, and stores the wrapped key beside the data. The key that wraps it is held in a hardware security module (HSM) and never leaves it.
Out of the server rooms before the storms
Fifteen months, five phases, for a distributor of about 1,000 people moving from two hurricane-exposed server rooms to Google Cloud and Workspace: roughly 300 virtual machines, 40 databases, 100 TB of files and 1,000 mailboxes in seven waves. The tightly coupled core went first so that every tier-1 system was in the cloud before the Atlantic hurricane season (1 June to 30 November) began. Illustrative case; figures rounded.
Our process
- 1
Inventory
Every account, resource and invoice line, mapped to an owner.
- 2
Quick wins
Idle and oversized resources removed in the first weeks.
- 3
Re-platform
The right provider for each service, chosen on price and quality.
- 4
Operate
Monthly cost reporting so changes stay visible.
Quick wins come first so the benefit shows early. Re-platforming follows only where the saving justifies the effort and risk, and the operate phase includes a monthly cost report that shows what changed and why.
Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions we hear most. Something else on your mind?
Send us a messageWhich cloud providers do you support?
All major providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), IBM Cloud, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, plus hybrid and on-premises environments and colocation at operators such as Equinix and Digital Realty. OVHcloud and other international providers are used for international projects. This is experience with each platform, not a partnership.
How do you reduce cloud waste?
We remove idle and oversized resources, apply the right pricing commitments and move each workload to the provider that fits that service best on price and quality.
How do I know if I am overspending on the cloud?
Common signs are bills that grow faster than usage, idle servers, oversized instances and unused storage. We review your accounts and show where money goes before we change anything.
How are cloud management terms set?
Terms are set in your agreement and discussed during scoping. We review your accounts first, and we do not state a fee or a savings figure before that review.
Can you move us from one cloud provider to another?
Yes. We plan migrations workload by workload, test them and cut over with a rollback plan. We choose the provider on price and fit, not preference.
Do you also secure our cloud environment?
Yes. Cost work includes reviewing access, network exposure, backups and configuration, because security gaps and waste often come from the same sprawl.
Do you work with hybrid or on-premises systems, and can you connect them to the cloud?
Yes. We connect offices, datacenters and cloud networks with IPsec VPNs, WireGuard or private circuits, and run BGP where routes must fail over automatically. We also stretch Layer 2 segments with VXLAN-EVPN where an application truly needs it, and often recommend routing instead because it is simpler and more resilient.
What can a cloud cost review find?
It depends on how the environment is built today, so we promise no figure. Common findings are idle resources, oversized instances, unused storage, unattached disks and missing pricing commitments. The review reports what we find in your own invoices and accounts.
Do you need access to our cloud accounts?
We need read access to review cost, configuration and security, and you control what we can change. We use named accounts with multi-factor authentication, never shared logins, and we remove access when the work ends. Changes that affect production are agreed with you first.
Is it cheaper to move back on-premises or to a different provider?
Sometimes. Steady, predictable workloads can cost less on dedicated servers or a lower-priced provider, while variable ones usually suit the major clouds. We compare the full cost, including staff time, backup and security, before recommending a move. Our team has run workloads on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and others.
How do you keep us from overspending again?
With a monthly cost report, budgets and alerts, and tags that tie every resource to an owner. When a bill jumps, the owner sees it the same month instead of at year end. We review the report with you and adjust commitments as your use changes.
Can you help us avoid vendor lock-in?
Yes. We design workloads with portable building blocks, such as containers, standard databases and infrastructure described in code, so moving is possible later. Some lock-in is a reasonable trade for a convenient service. We explain the trade-off so you choose it on purpose.