How SMEs Can Stay Efficient and Avoid Unnecessary Cloud Overspending

In our second cloud computing blog, we’ll explore cloud computing solutions for businesses wanting to achieve digital transformation and the host of benefits that come along with it. My name's Adam Harling, Netitude Founder and Managing Director, and in our latest blog, I'll be taking you through some key areas to keep tabs on when it comes to cloud computing cost control.

The Double-Edged Sword of Cloud Flexibility

In our second cloud computing blog, we’ll explore cloud computing solutions for businesses wanting to achieve digital transformation and the host of benefits that come along with it.

Flexibility, scalability, and an entire roster of advanced capabilities are on offer for businesses brave enough to swap out their existing legacy system for more aligned technology that’s suited to their needs and will ultimately help them achieve their business goals.

However, cloud computing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Without proper cost control, finances can start to spiral as decision makers opt for cloud solutions and tools that may look great on paper but are actually misaligned in practice.

The overarching goal of this post is to help small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME) manage and reduce their cloud spending without compromising on performance or innovation.

Why Cloud Costs Can Escalate Unnoticed

With the raft of macro and microeconomic factors affecting modern-day businesses, costs can start to spiral out of control if any area of a company isn’t managed appropriately. As technology experts, we’ve been in the business of helping businesses manage and reduce their IT costs for more than 20 years, and on more than one occasion, we’ve seen that cloud-based costs can skyrocket if left unattended.

Let’s dive into why this happens:

• Pay-as-you-go and usage-based pricing can be deceptive: While these models offer flexibility, they can also be a double-edged sword. What seems like a cost-effective solution for SMEs can quickly spiral into unexpected expenses. Without careful management, businesses may face unpredictable fluctuations in spending, hidden fees, and inefficient resource allocation, turning what was once a budget-friendly option into a financial burden.
• Shadow IT and poor visibility across teams: Another reason cloud costs can escalate unnoticed is shadow IT—technology, software, or cloud services used within an organisation without IT approval. We see this frequently with the businesses we onboard, where departments unknowingly duplicate resources or invest in untracked subscriptions. Without centralised visibility, companies struggle to maintain control, leading to inefficiencies that quietly drive up costs. Implementing unified cloud monitoring ensures alignment across teams and prevents hidden expenses.
• Underused or idle resources (e.g. virtual machines, storage): Efficiency is the name of the game for modern decision-makers and finance directors, yet underutilised tech remains one of the easiest ways to escalate cloud costs. A virtual machine (VM) left running at low capacity or idle storage volumes accumulating over time can quickly become a financial drain. Identifying and decommissioning redundant resources is a simple yet effective way to cut unnecessary costs.
• Overprovisioned environments: The needs of an SME differ drastically from those of a large corporation, yet many smaller businesses overestimate their cloud requirements. We often see SMEs overprovisioning their environments—allocating far more computing power or technology than necessary at a given time. Right-sizing cloud infrastructure ensures businesses only pay for what they genuinely need, avoiding excessive spending on unused capacity.
• Lack of cost accountability in small teams: Agility is often prioritised over cost management, particularly within small teams. Without clear accountability across departments, unnecessary provisioning, duplicate services, and overlooked expenses accumulate over time. Without a structured approach to tracking cloud spend, cost controllers are left untangling budgets instead of optimising them. Establishing clear cost ownership and reporting mechanisms ensures financial responsibility without sacrificing flexibility.

Cost Control Strategies That Work for SMEs

Fortunately, we’ve been down this road before in helping other businesses, as well as our own, to gain control of their cloud computing costs. Here are some actionable strategies a modern-day business or SME can use to regain control of their cloud computing costs:

Set Budgets and Use Cost Alerts

Whilst this one may be obvious to some, it’s staggering how many businesses neglect a good old-fashioned budget. These days, many cloud-based budget tools, such as Microsoft Cost Management and AWS Budgets, are available to finance directors and decision-makers.

What’s handy about tools such as these is that users can set up usage alerts for team accountability. For example, suppose Karen from accounts supersedes her monthly spending. In that case, it’ll be flagged on the system, notifying the user and enabling them to rein in the employee when it comes to future expenditures.

Rightsize Your Resources

As we briefly touched on in the last section, it’s crucial to evaluate a business’s needs concerning its available resources continuously. This means regularly reviewing workloads, adjusting VM sizing when necessary, and decommissioning or optimising underused assets and devices to prevent waste.

Another approach businesses can take when implementing this strategy is automating shutdowns for development and testing environments outside of working hours, ensuring resources are only consumed when truly needed.

Leverage Reserved Instances and Savings Plans

When it comes to technology, strategic planning—both short-term and long-term—is often the key to success. That’s why we guide our clients through technological roadmaps designed to support their digital transformation, integrating cloud solutions tailored to their unique needs.

One of the most effective cost-saving strategies for businesses with predictable workloads is committing to a reserved instance or savings plan for 1–3 years. While pay-as-you-go models offer flexibility, reserved instances lock in lower rates and reduce overall spending. This approach ensures businesses avoid unnecessary fluctuations in cloud costs, providing stability for long-term budgeting.

Tag Resources for Accountability

Cloud cost control isn’t just about setting budgets—it’s about knowing where the money goes. Businesses can improve financial oversight by tagging resources based on project, department, or customer, making tracking spending patterns and pinpointing inefficiencies easier. Cloud resources can become a black hole of expenses without a structured tagging system, with businesses paying for untracked services they no longer need.

By tagging cloud resources appropriately, decision-makers gain visibility into usage trends, making informed choices about cost allocation and reducing waste.

Monitor with Dashboards and Reporting Tools

Cost tracking shouldn’t be an afterthought—it should be real-time and transparent. Businesses can leverage cloud-native tools like Microsoft Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and AWS Budgets, or third-party options like CloudCheckr and Spot.io, to gain instant visibility into spending.

Interactive dashboards provide real-time monitoring, flagging anomalies before they snowball into major expenses. Decision-makers can set up automated reports, track historical usage patterns, and identify savings opportunities before costs spiral out of control.

Working with a Managed Service Provider to Optimise Spend

Those strategies that we’ve just outlined have a whole host of benefits if utilised and actioned correctly. However, we understand that decision makers and organisational leaders more often than not have bigger fish to fry in terms of the day-to-day running of an organisation—as a Managing Director of a small-to-medium-sized business myself, I can relate to and appreciate this.

Fortunately, the team at Netitude are here to take away the burden of cloud computing cost control. Our experienced, in-house technology experts can provide quarterly reporting, strategic recommendations and comprehensive audits of your entire IT infrastructure, analysing your current and future cloud-based needs.

Each new client we enter a partnership with is appointed their very own Virtual IT Director, as well as a Technical Alignment Engineer, both of whom will work in tandem to provide your business with tailored and structured IT-based recommendations.

If you’re worried about the cloud computing costs spiralling out of control, please get in touch with our friendly team of experts. We’ll be more than happy to help.

Make Cloud Cost Control a Habit, Not a Headache

Like any area of business, smart planning and good habits can help reduce stress, save money, and increase agility. As a business owner myself, I know just how quickly things can start to unravel and how long it can take to get things back under control.

Therefore, if you’re struggling to get to grips with cloud computing or any other technology-related aspect of your business, please do get in touch today!