Cloud

5 Questions State and Local IT Leaders Should Ask To Manage Cloud Spending

The cloud’s flexibility is great, but costs must be carefully managed.

Joel Snyder, Ph.D., is a senior IT consultant with 30 years of practice. An internationally recognized expert in the areas of security, messaging and networks, Dr. Snyder is a popular speaker and author and is known for his unbiased and comprehensive tests of security and networking products. His clients include major organizations on six continents.

The cloud has become essential to state and local government, supporting everything from citizen services and public safety applications to data analytics and AI initiatives. As cloud environments mature, CIOs and IT leaders are taking a closer look at costs to ensure they're maximizing value while remaining good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Here are five questions every government IT organization should ask.

1. Where Is Our Money Going?

Start by reviewing cloud spending over the past several quarters by application, service, agency or department. Focus first on the biggest cost drivers and determine whether the value those workloads deliver justifies the expense. Clear visibility into cloud spending makes it easier to identify opportunities to optimize resources and eliminate unnecessary costs.

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2. Are We Forecasting Properly?

Cloud computing is no longer new territory. Agencies should be able to forecast cloud spending with relatively few surprises. Compare your budget projections with actual cloud expenditures and look for meaningful gaps. Variances of more than 10% in either direction deserve closer examination. If forecasts consistently miss the mark, it's worth asking why spending isn't being predicted more accurately.

3. Are We Keeping an Eye on Waste?

Are your workloads properly rightsized? Review metrics such as CPU and memory utilization, which should generally average around 75%. Make sure your team has a process for identifying unused or underused resources that can be shut down or reprovisioned. Real-time alerts can also help detect unexpected spending spikes that may signal an application running out of control.

4. Are We Taking Advantage of Cloud Pricing Options?

Major cloud providers offer a variety of pricing models, including commitment-based discounts for predictable workloads. As agencies gain more experience managing cloud environments, they should regularly review whether they're taking full advantage of these cost-saving opportunities while remaining aligned with procurement requirements and long-term technology plans. For many organizations, a significant portion of cloud spending should qualify for discounted pricing.

5. Are We Using the Right Storage Tiers?

Storage requirements tend to grow over time, but not all data needs the same level of performance. Review storage usage, costs per gigabyte and access patterns to determine whether information can be moved from high-performance storage to lower-cost cold or archive tiers. Lifecycle policies and automation can help ensure data is stored in the most cost-effective location without creating additional administrative work.

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