Does it seem like your cloud costs are always shifting with the winds?
It could be because the cloud itself is in a state of rapid change and advancement. The best way to anticipate these changes is to stay on top of current cloud cost news trends.
With that said, here’s what happened in the cloud in Summer 2023:
- Amazon and Google cloud profits are up following some tough times
- AI is taking the cloud by storm with new updates from all major cloud providers
- FinOps X and the AWS Summit for 2023 teased exciting new developments in cloud-based FinOps and the AWS environment, respectively
- Google, AWS, and Azure have all released some new and promising upgrades
Keep reading for more details!
Cloud Cost News From Summer 2023
Amazon finally saw some cloud growth
AWS was feeling the pressure at the beginning of 2023, but its Q2 reports showed losses finally abating. An August 3rd report was much more optimistic, with growth and profits for Amazon as a whole exceeding expectations, and AWS in particular seeing some relief as major retailers shifted operations to the cloud.
At 12%, AWS growth still trails that of GCP (28%) and Microsoft’s Azure (26%), but the positive trend is nevertheless encouraging.
Amazon’s foray into AI is so far proving lucrative, so the company has plans to expand this department further.
Expect to see new and interesting AI initiatives that should appeal to the mega-corporations who call the AWS cloud home. It remains to be seen how new AI tools will affect cloud costs, so keep a close eye on your costs to make sure no bloat creeps in unexpectedly.
Google also experienced a jump in stock prices from cloud services and AI
If one metric signals the world’s interest in having the ability to develop AI tools in the cloud, it’s the combined surge in growth for both Amazon and Google. Google saw a 10% increase in stock prices in just a week toward the end of July.
In the near future, you can expect this rapid expansion and rabid demand for cloud-based AI tools to keep prices for those tools fairly high.
However, keep paying attention to these trends over time, because there will come a day when supply and demand stabilize, and savvy SaaS execs will be able to jump on the AI bandwagon without seeing prices skyrocket.
Azure continues to develop exciting AI tools
Microsoft’s Azure announced several new AI feature advancements to its infrastructure, which is based on the same OpenAI platform as ChatGPT. Azure’s goal is to provide users with all the tools they need to build their own generative AI applications from within the cloud.
One of the most exciting announcements detailed the new release of OpenAI’s most recent models, GPT-4 and GPT-35-Turbo, in more global regions. This means businesses around the world that hadn’t previously had the tools to build cloud-based generative AI platforms can now do so with Azure.
We should be seeing some very interesting product offerings coming through the pipeline once more businesses begin to use this capability to their advantage.
The AWS Summit took place in NYC
The AWS Summit that happened on July 26 was packed full of guest speakers, networking opportunities, and expos on a number of AWS topics. If your company likes to stay on the bleeding edge of new tech developments and you operate within the AWS cloud space, don’t miss next year’s event.
This year’s AWS Summit featured numerous panels discussing generative AI, automatic code completion, and improvements to data processing.
Since these features are brand new, we don’t know yet how they will affect costs for the average SaaS company. Keep an eye on your costs as these new features roll out in AWS, and be sure to track your usage carefully if you choose to experiment with any of them!
FinOps X just took place as well
Though the FinOps X conference took place in late June, the buzz it generated lasted well into July. This year’s conference in San Diego featured several keynote speakers well-known in their industries and covered a broad range of FinOps topics.
One exciting announcement introduced the new FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification (FOCUS). This is a standardized method of reporting cloud cost and usage data across cloud providers. If your company uses a multi-cloud environment, this specification could make managing your costs easier.
Another hot topic was the use of generative AI in all major cloud environments, including AI-based FinOps solutions integrated directly into the cloud.
Google’s Cloud Deploy saw multiple upgrades
The month of July brought many user experience upgrades to anyone using Google’s Cloud Deploy platform.
Some of the changes include an updated UI, the ability to create pipelines with new releases, features that allow users to deploy parameters for releases, and an expansion to the global regions supported by Log Analytics.
GitLab users can now build and deploy code on AWS CodePipeline
Good news for GitLab fans: AWS CodePipeline will now support connections to GitLab.com accounts. All you have to do is connect your accounts using AWS CodeStar Connections and work directly from your code repository, which will push changes through AWS CodePipeline.
This expansion in support means GitLab is the newest code source control system to join the ranks of Bitbucket, GitHub.com, and GitHub Enterprise Server that were previously the only ways to use external — non AWS — source control with CodePipeline.
This new release may not directly affect pricing, but it should make it easier for GitLab users to push quick updates if they notice something amiss with their costs. If you’re using GitLab, take advantage of this new ability to fix inefficiencies before they get out of control!
Wondering How Cloud Changes Will Affect Your Bottom Line?
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The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
