How to Optimize Windows Costs on AWS

Many organizations overspend on Microsoft licenses and workloads. This is true both on-premises and on the cloud. A big reason why is that IT teams lack visibility into what they actually need and spend when it comes to Windows workloads. Microsoft licensing can be complex, especially for large companies that have built their IT footprints over decades. And it can be difficult to break out of rigid licensing agreements to take advantage of newer tech.

Consequently, many IT departments overprovision resources and spend more than necessary to meet user requirements. IT leaders stick with what they know, and by doing so, maintain IT operations that are inefficient, bloated, and hard to update. Fortunately, cloud computing technology and today’s leading cloud providers are making it easier to swap legacy on-premises IT for flexible cloud architecture. One of the best ways to optimize Windows costs on the AWS cloud, in particular, is through the AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA).

What is the Windows OLA Program?

The AWS OLA is designed to give teams a clear picture of their current Windows resource utilization so they can make informed decisions when it comes to modernizing Microsoft workloads. The assessment can be applied to on-premises and cloud resources and makes it easy to measure existing operations, licenses, and critical dependencies about real-world outcomes. The AWS OLA removes the uncertainty that comes with a Microsoft migration, lowering risk and providing peace of mind before making a significant change.

With OLA data, organizations are empowered to execute migration and modernization projects that result in more agile, cost-effective, and performant Microsoft workloads on the cloud. IT leaders can right-size resources for variable demand, cut unnecessary licensing costs, and model different licensing arrangements to identify the appropriate course of action.

However, for teams with limited capacity or cloud experience, following through on the results of an AWS Windows OLA can be challenging. There are many variables to consider and ways to optimize costs. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and the best path forward may involve a complex Windows migration and modernization project. This is where ClearScale can help.

Optimize Your Windows Costs with ClearScale and AWS

As an AWS Premier Tier Services provider, ClearScale helps organizations in every industry maximize performance and ROI on the AWS cloud. Our cloud engineers and architects have earned over 100 AWS technical certifications and 12 AWS competencies, including the Microsoft Workloads Competency. This competency, in particular, represents our ability to deliver cloud solutions for Microsoft users that create tangible value on the cloud.

Given the demand for Windows cost optimization services, we launched a new offering that builds on an AWS Windows OLA. Our team can take the results of your OLA and other relevant information, like Microsoft Licensing Statements and enterprise priorities, to create a tailored modernization plan. We recognize that many companies don’t have the tooling or expertise necessary to act on their OLA results. That’s why our program consists of the following:

• A comprehensive review of OLA findings
• Cost savings calculations of modernizing on AWS
• Cost/benefit analysis of adopting a managed database with flexible licensing
• Recommendations on how to avoid unnecessary IT spend
• Overview of AWS solutions for Microsoft storage and compute
• Tips on avoiding vendor lock-in for licensing agreements and contracts

Windows Migration and Modernization

We can also execute any migration or modernization proof of concept or full-scale project depending on the needs of the organization. For example, we partnered with an organization in the healthcare industry to update IT architecture that was slowly degrading. Our client was experiencing more availability and performance issues as it grew, leading to a decision to modernize the legacy infrastructure.

The client’s leadership team didn’t want to just implement a short-term solution. As we uncovered their business requirements, it became clear that a simple lift-and-shift migration wouldn’t suffice. We designed an entirely new architecture on AWS with automation, auto-scaling, and cloud-native databases built in. By modernizing Windows workloads and .NET applications, we helped the organization reduce IT management overhead, improve disaster recovery, minimize downtime, increase scalability, and boost efficiency through IT automation.

This is just one example of what we can do both with and without AWS OLA findings. We’ll partner with you to explain your assessment results and discuss a viable solution. We can also take on more of the assessment work and deliver an end-to-end Microsoft migration and modernization project.

Schedule a call with us to learn more about how we can help you optimize your Windows costs on AWS. You can also check us out on the AWS Marketplace.