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Cloud computing offers many advantages – of which improved security is just one. However, improved control over IT costs is not on the list.
When all of the computers and software applications your business uses were installed on premises, you had complete control over IT spending. Any additional hardware and software had to be requested; business justified, formally approved, purchase ordered, and goods receipted.
No more.
It is now very easy for individual employees to spin up a Virtual Machine in the Cloud – to run a particular process overnight – but then fail to shut it down – leaving their employer with a very big bill – for computing resources that were never approved and not used.
It is now easier for someone in IT, in a hurry, to fix many other issues, to give a new joiner access to every piece of software that a company has a subscription for – not just that the individual will actually use. Since SaaS software is priced by registered users, not usage – the employer will get a bigger bill as a result.
Managers who think they need a new system to support their part of a business can now do their own research and use a company credit card to sign up for a free trial. Twelve months later the CFO is presented with a direct debit mandate and discovers that they now have 40 users of software they knew nothing about.
These are just three of the ways that Cloud and SaaS can defeat the traditional controls that most businesses have put in place. To reassert that control you will need:
- Much better, real-time information about what cloud resources you are paying for.
- More rigorous joiner, mover, leaver processes and templates that define what software each role should have access to.
If you don’t have the time or resources to put all that in place – please talk to us about Cloud Care.
Cloud Care
Cloud Care is designed to help CFOs and FDs regain control of their IT budget – and save money as a result. More specifically, we work to ensure that you only pay for what you need and actively use. We achieve that by:
Optimising Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365)
- We monitor what applications your users actually use and, on a monthly basis, identify opportunities to align the software licences you pay for with actual usage.
- We provision resources for new employees in line with pre agreed templates. This ensures that new users only get access to what they need to fulfil their job role.
- We ensure that all leavers are promptly deleted from systems, so no subscription is paid on behalf of someone who no longer works for you.
Optimising Microsoft Azure
- We monitor your consumption of Azure resources, identify opportunities to align resources with business need and user demand and can action changes on your behalf.
Having ensured that you are only paying for what the software licences and Azure resources that you actually use – Cloud Care then saves you more money by:
Outstanding User Support
- Delivering class leading support. We ensure that your users get access to free of charge training and answers to their questions/issues – helping them be more productive, more of the time.
Free User Training
- Our Academy offers a wide range of online and in person training courses – all designed to help your people make the most of the software that you are paying for them to use.
Cloud Care exists to help CFOs and FDs avoid surprises and any embarrassment by giving them back control of their IT budget. It also helps them save money. Most Partners don’t tell their customers that they could reduce their M365/Azure subscription – much less make those changes proactively on their behalf. TSG is different. We do.
