The Hidden Cost of Cloud: Why Efficiency and Sustainability Matter

Cloud computing offers cost and productivity efficiencies, in addition to supporting a more flexible, scalable, and resilient technology stack. However, many organisations are facing significant challenges as they adopt increasingly complex cloud environments.

Multiple surveys have found that between 30-40% of cloud usage is waste, with up to $180 billion estimated to be spent annually on unnecessary cloud resources. 

Our experience working with organisations has revealed just how much cloud migrations can be inefficient and costly without consideration and practical application of FinOps best practices, resource tracking, and cost optimisation.

In one example, we found databases that nobody had connected to for months running at 2% utilisation. That’s a huge waste of virtual and physical resources. 

In another, our experts helped a government departmentadopt strategies to reduce their cloud infrastructure costs by up to 65% in key areas of expenditure.

Unless organisations have a comprehensive understanding of their cloud environments, they will be ill-prepared to address cost challenges.

It goes further than managing costs. Today, most organisations have ‘green thinking’ core to their strategy and values andseek to minimise the environmental impacts of running their workloads.

Amazon, Azure, and Google sustainability commitments

Cloud vendors are major consumers of power and water, and they have all made serious sustainability commitments. 

All new AWS data centres are designed for efficiency, resiliency, and a lower carbon footprint.By 2030, AWS aim to be water positive,and Google has a goal to achieve net-zero emissionsacross all its operations and value chain. 

Azure has committed to focus on four key areas of environmental impact – carbon, water, waste, and ecosystems. By the end of 2025, its datacentres, buildings, and campuses will all source electricity from renewal energy.

What can you do?

Software systems cause emissions through the hardware that they operate on, and tools like Azure Carbon Optimization allow organisations to measure, understand, and reduce their carbon footprint by providing detailed emissions data and insights. 

Technology leaders should assess the impact of data centre location andshift workloads to greener regions or time windows where they are powered by clean energy sources. 

Sustainability goes further than selecting an appropriate architectureanda carbon-efficientgeographical region to run your workloads.

The Green Software Foundation provides a Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) methodology for calculating a score for carbon emissions. The SCI works for any kind of application, not only those that run in the cloud, and can be improved by writing energy efficient code – which in turn, can support your cloud cost optimisation goals.

Planning your Cloud adoption

How you go about Cloud adoption can make the difference between a sustainable and environmentally wasteful strategy.

The great thing here is that, if you get it right, it’s win-win.

Take Action: Optimise Your Cloud, Cut Waste, and Boost Sustainability at Zero Cost

Cloud computing promises flexibility, resilience, and cost-efficiency but too often, the reality is spiralling expenses, underused resources, and overlooked environmental impact.

Whether you're struggling with cloud sprawl, sustainability goals, or cost visibility, the solution starts with a clear, expert review.

That’s where our Well-Architected Framework Review comes in.

In just 4–6 hours, our team will help you uncover inefficiencies, identify opportunities for cost savings, and lay the foundation for a more sustainable, future-proof cloud strategy. Find out more here.