As ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) continue to grow and scale, it can be challenging to manage cloud expenses and achieve an effective ROI. It is found that most organizations waste about 30% of their cloud resources due to ineffective optimization practices. According to Flexera’s 2022 State of the Cloud Report, the cloud expenses crossed the budget by 24% on average.

ISVs continuously seek ways to reduce infrastructure and storage cost. And thus, having a cloud provider which can provide in-depth cloud cost and consumption insights is a must. Microsoft gives an opportunity to ISVs to reduce their IT costs by migrating or moving their workloads to the Azure cloud. 

Azure helps customers save on infrastructure and energy costs, improve operational efficiency and productivity. When ISVs migrate or build products on Azure, they get various tools, offers, and tailored recommendations to manage and optimize cloud costs. In short, ISVs can achieve: 

1. Visibility and draw cost insights using monitoring and analytics. 
2. Maximum efficiency out of their cloud environment. 
3. Provision resources that are optimized for cost. 

Here are the 5 ways for ISVs to optimize their cloud costs.

1. Shut Down Unused Resources

When migrating to Azure, ISVs get Azure Advisor, which helps them identify idle virtual machines (VMs), ExpressRoute circuits, and other resources in order to save costs, increase efficiency, and accelerate growth with Azure. 

Moreover, ISVs get actionable recommendations for optimizing their resources and helping them choose which resources to shut down and which to keep.

2. Right-size Underused Resources

There are some situations when resources are not fully used as per their capacity. Hence, it is essential for an ISV to identify such underused resources. With Azure Advisor, ISVs can find underutilized resources by monitoring the usage patterns of their Azure resources. 

Moreover, they will get actionable recommendations to deallocate the virtual machine, resize the disk, or turn off instances when they are not needed to reduce your costs. This will also help ISVs improve the performance of their Azure environment. 

3. Reserve Instances for Consistent Workloads

It is a cost-saving offering that allows ISVs to save money on their Azure virtual machine (VM) usage costs. When an ISV purchases a Reserved Instance for a consistent workload, they can save up to 72% compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. 

A consistent workload refers to a scenario where virtual machines run consistently, 24/7, for a 1- or 3-year period. By making a low upfront payment, ISVs can commit to a consistent use pattern and receive a significant discount on the cost of their VMs. 

4. Take Advantage of the Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Azure Hybrid Benefit is a cost-saving feature that allows ISVs to use existing Windows Server and SQL Server licenses on Azure and save on their virtual machine costs. 

This means that instead of paying the full cost of running these servers on Azure, ISVs can apply for their existing licenses and pay only for the underlying infrastructure. 

5. Setup Budgets and Allocate Costs to Teams and Projects

Microsoft Cost Management is a unique cloud-based solution of Azure that helps ISVs manage and optimize their cloud spending. It allows them to set up budgets and allocate costs to different departments, projects, or cost centers within the organization.  

This helps ISVs to ensure that spending is aligned with their organizational goals. Moreover, ISVs can make informed decisions about how to allocate their resources effectively and efficiently. 

If you are an ISV and looking to optimize cloud costs, G7 CR can help you drive the transition with zero business impact. We use a strategic approach in order to lift and shift or redeployment. With deep cloud expertise, we advise you on the right cloud approach that fits your needs, considering key business aspects like scale, security, and manageability. 

Considering the challenges ISVs face in order to grow and scale, G7 CR has launched the STAB – ISV Growth Program in partnership with Microsoft. So far, STAB has helped about 95% of our ISVs grow 3X in revenue. G7 CR helps ISVs migrate to Azure and launch their B2B SaaS offering in the Azure cloud marketplace. This enables ISVs to transact with 4M monthly active users and 1 billion Microsoft customers including 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, G7 CR also makes a series of investments as Service Point Credits. Join the ISV Growth Program and scale up through 2x logo acquisition and 3x global reach.