Traditionally, applications are developed and deployed on local servers managed by developers. This keeps the whole process under the control of one development team that is responsible for keeping the system running smoothly.
With serverless computing, however, the server management and code execution within applications takes place remotely, under the control of the cloud service provider rather than an in-house development team.
With conventional server-based computing, it can be challenging to monitor your cloud costs. You might not be able to tell without some laborious investigation which features are using the most compute, how those demands translate into costs, and how those costs can be optimized.
Similarly, because servers require more management than serverless environments, it’s often difficult to see how much money could be saved if you switched to serverless.
Clearing up those murky gray areas to shine some light on your actual cloud costs is the primary reason why serverless computing is quickly becoming the superior choice for cost optimization. You can expect the following boosts to efficiency and transparency by going serverless.
Why Serverless Computing Is Helpful For Cloud Cost Optimization
Offload work and build more with a smaller team
Many organizations use the term “undifferentiated heavy lifting” to refer to the miscellaneous tasks that every company needs to do to keep services running.
When you’re working with servers, this heavy lifting includes a lot of management that isn’t required in a serverless model. By choosing low-maintenance, managed services, you can offload much of that work to AWS and free up time and resources.
With serverless services, your team doesn’t have to think about building server instances, patching them, installing the right software, or figuring out how to synchronize updates. AWS shoulders those responsibilities so your team can concentrate on things that directly improve the value of your product. Ultimately, this means you can do more with a smaller team.
For companies that are entrenched in the traditional server model, it can take a significant mindset shift to go serverless. But the resulting freedom to focus on other matters is often so empowering that it outweighs the effort of having to think about things in a new way.
Beyond simply saving effort and money, this strategy can generate more revenue in the long-term. When engineers have the luxury of focusing on innovation rather than upkeep, the business can come up with solutions more quickly and become more ambitious in competitive industries.
Tie service usage directly to costs
If you have a great savings plan for your cloud services, you may be understandably hesitant to give that up in favor of the scalable payment plan that often accompanies a serverless model. However, this flexibility is one of the reasons why using serverless functions could be a better move than you think.
The fact that serverless services are scalable is beneficial for a number of reasons. When it comes to cost optimization in particular, serverless scalability means that you don’t have to pay for the services you’re not using.
In a traditional server model, you may have functions running all the time in the background. When you’re serverless, you can set up your services to run only as needed. There’s no reason to try to plan ahead and commit to a reserved instance when you can simply pay as you go.
The cost advantages of that strategy should be obvious even at the surface level.
However, tying your usage directly to how much you pay has another advantage: When you know which event-driven features are running and when (for example, when a specific request initiates a response), you will know exactly how much those features are costing you when you get the bill for your usage.
This is something you can only do with a scalable model. It is much tougher to break apart individual services and features to analyze them for usage and costs when they are all packaged together in a big bundle that runs constantly.
Save Time, Effort, And Money On Cost Optimization With CloudZero
Going serverless can take you a long way toward the eventual goal of cloud cost transparency and efficiency. CloudZero can bring you the rest of the way to the finish line.
Some of our customers have reported spending 90% less time on managing cloud costs and freeing up ten hours every week.
If you’re getting serious about cost optimization, let CloudZero give you a window into your cloud costs with our expert insights and dedicated team. 
to see it for yourself.
The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
