Cloud principles
Cloud principles for the Scottish public sector to guide beneficial decision making and behaviours when adopting and using cloud services.
Principle 7: Monitor continuously, optimise frequently
Statement
Monitor your cloud usage continuously. Optimise your services and licensing regularly.
Why?
Cloud services operate on a consumption model and charge for use over time, which fundamentally changes how you incur costs and the opportunities for cost savings or overruns.
By monitoring your resources and license usage continuously and optimising them regularly, you can obtain the best value for money, and reduce the risk of commercial waste.
What does this mean?
- a new, more flexible model of regular service adjustment replaces the existing model of significant, irregular IT spends and licensing true-ups
- service owners are responsible for owning, managing and optimising service costs
- mandate the regular and transparent reporting of service costs, alongside availability and usage metrics
- service owners should drive efforts to increase service cost-effectiveness while encouraging service delivery and development teams to do the same
Digital Scotland Service Standards
Applying this principle helps you to meet the Digital Scotland Service Standards:
8. Choose the right tech: public cloud service models are consumption-based, which enables you to revise your service architecture regularly to improve cost-effectiveness, without worrying about contracts or financial lock-in.
Guidance
- read about how the Home Office reduced its cloud costs by 40% by gamifying the process of service optimisation
Contact
Email: Cloud1st@gov.scot
Telephone: 0300 244 4000
Post:
Cloud First
Cloud and Digital Services Division
Area 1H South
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
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