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Cloud cost optimisation(FinOps)
Find out what each department really spends on cloud, cut the waste, and commit only to what you will use.
Plan your cloud cost review
Tell us which clouds you run. We reply with what a short review covers and where savings usually hide.
Where we start: Pick a spend band to see where a review usually starts.
Why companies ask us to review their cloud bill
Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Workand Google Cloud Premier Partner. We are also an AWS partner and a Huawei Cloud partner.
Since 2007with 1,500+ active cloud customers across the Middle East.
Offices in Dubai, Muscat (head office) and Dohaserving all six GCC countries.
No preferred cloudwe are paid to fit the workload, not to grow your bill.
Works with
FinOps is the practice of managing cloud spend as a shared job between finance, IT and the business, so every dirham or riyal of cloud cost has an owner and a purpose. Gulf Infotech, working with companies across the Middle East since 2007, reviews Azure, Huawei Cloud, Google Cloud and AWS bills, cuts waste and sets up monthly cost reporting. FinOps is about running only what you need: downsizing what is oversized, switching off servers that do not need to run 24/7, and committing to reservations only where they pay off.
What problem does FinOps solve?
What buyers tell us:
These are normal. Cloud is billed by the second or hour, servers are easy to create and easy to forget, and the biggest discounts only apply if someone commits to them. The Foundation that defines FinOps describes it in three phases: Inform (see the cost and who owns it), Optimize (find and act on savings), Operate (keep doing it every month).
- "The cloud bill goes up every month and nobody can tell me why."
- "Finance wants cost by department and the invoice is one line."
- "We moved our servers to the cloud and it costs more than the server room did."
- "Someone created test servers last year and they are still running."
Account
Period
Currency
Monthly spend
7.51MOMR
▲ 1.5% vs budget
Savings found
30.7%
▲ 0.2% vs budget
Idle resources
343.7K
▲ 2.1% vs budget
Avg. per workload
21.9OMR
▲ 1.1% vs budget
Spend and budget by month
Monthly spendBudget
Spend by account
Spend by account
- Muscat1.64M
- Salalah576K
- Dubai1.92M
- Abu Dhabi1.08M
- Doha881K
- Riyadh1.41M
Spend by service
- Compute33%
- Storage23%
- Databases24%
- Network19%
What does Gulf Infotech do?
Assess
with read-only billing access, we break down spend by service, resource and owner, and list idle, oversized and unlicensed-twice resources.
Design
we set a tagging scheme, budgets and alerts per department, and a commitment plan that covers only your steady baseline.
Act (migrate)
we rightsize VMs, schedule non-production servers to switch off out of hours, move cold data to cheaper tiers, apply Hybrid Benefit and buy commitments with your approval, including Azure reservations and savings plans through our CSP billing in each country we serve.
Run
we send a monthly cost report, review anomalies and adjust commitments as usage changes.
Who is it for?
| Profile | Typical starting point |
|---|---|
| Companies that moved servers to Azure or AWS in a lift-and-shift | Typical starting pointOversized VMs, no reservations, Windows and SQL licences paid twice |
| Software companies with growing Google Cloud or AWS bills | Typical starting pointIdle environments, untagged resources, no commitment plan |
| Groups with several subsidiaries or departments on one tenant | Typical starting pointNo cost allocation; finance cannot charge back |
| Firms on two clouds | Typical starting pointNo single view of spend |
| Very small cloud estates (a few VMs) | Typical starting pointA one-off review is usually enough, not an ongoing programme |
What savings levers does each cloud offer?
Discount ceilings as stated on each provider's official pricing page in October 2026. Actual savings depend on region, machine type and usage.
| Provider | Native cost tools | Commitment discounts | Other levers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure (UAE North, Qatar Central) | Native cost toolsCost Management (cost analysis, budgets, anomaly alerts, cost allocation, exports) and Azure Advisor cost recommendations | Commitment discountsReservations up to 72% (1 or 3 years); savings plan for compute up to 65% | Other leversAzure Hybrid Benefit: up to 80% on Windows Server and up to 85% on SQL Server versus pay-as-you-go, if you hold licences with Software Assurance or qualifying subscriptions |
| Huawei Cloud (Riyadh; Abu Dhabi upcoming) | Native cost toolsConsole billing reports. | Commitment discountsYearly/monthly packages instead of pay-per-use; reserved instances (billed whether used or not) | Other leversSpot pricing |
| Google Cloud (Doha, Dammam) | Native cost toolsCost reports and Recommender | Commitment discountsCommitted use discounts up to 55% for most machine series, up to 70% for memory-optimised (1 or 3 years) | Other leversSustained use discounts apply automatically, up to 30% net, on eligible machine series |
| AWS (UAE, Bahrain) | Native cost toolsCost Explorer (current month plus the last 12 months, 12-month forecast) and Compute Optimizer (rightsizing, idle resources) | Commitment discountsSavings Plans up to 72% versus On-Demand | Other leversSpot instances up to 90% off for interruptible work; per-second billing for common operating systems |
One Azure caveat: Cost Management does not support classic Cloud Solution Provider subscriptions until they move to a Microsoft Customer Agreement. We check that before promising dashboards.
Which lever should you pull first?
| Lever | Best when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Delete idle and forgotten resources | Best whenAlways first | Trade-offNeeds an owner to confirm each deletion |
| Rightsize VMs and databases | Best whenServers run below half their CPU and memory most of the month | Trade-offA short performance test after each change |
| Schedule non-production to stop at night and weekends | Best whenTest, training and dev servers run around the clock | Trade-offUsers must accept start-up time in the morning |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit | Best whenYou own Windows Server or SQL Server licences with Software Assurance | Trade-offLicence records must be in order |
| Reservations, Savings Plans or CUDs | Best whenUsage is steady for at least a year | Trade-offYou pay for the commitment even if usage drops |
| Spot or preemptible capacity | Best whenBatch jobs and workloads that tolerate interruption | Trade-offNot for production servers that must stay up |
| Storage tiering | Best whenOld data sits on hot storage | Trade-offMinimum storage periods on cold tiers |
How is FinOps priced?
The savings come from the provider's own discounts and from switching off waste; our work is the effort to find and apply them. Reservations are one lever, not the whole job: most savings come from using only what is needed. Commitments, including Azure reservations and savings plans bought through our CSP billing in each country, are charged upfront or monthly for the term you choose, on our local invoice like the rest of your cloud usage. We quote our review and follow-up per customer.
Watch one trap: buying a three-year commitment to fix a bill that is mostly waste locks in the waste. Clean up and rightsize first, then commit to the baseline that remains.
What are the typical steps?
Access
read-only billing and resource access, nothing changes yet.
Baseline
current monthly spend by service, owner and environment.
Quick wins
delete idle resources, stop unused environments.
Rightsize and license
smaller VMs, Hybrid Benefit where licences allow.
Commit
reservations, savings plans or CUDs for the steady baseline.
Operate
tags, budgets, anomaly alerts and a monthly review.
Cloud services in your country
See where your cloud money goes
Grant read-only billing access and we will come back with a spend breakdown, a waste list and a commitment plan.
Frequently asked questions
Which cloud is best for cost optimisation?
Every major cloud offers the same three levers: native cost reports, commitment discounts and rightsizing advice. The cheapest cloud is the one whose discounts match your licences and usage. Azure is often cheapest for Windows Server and SQL Server through Hybrid Benefit. AWS Spot fits interruptible jobs. Google Cloud applies sustained use discounts without any commitment.
Can the data stay in my country?
Yes. A cost review uses billing and usage data, not your business data, and we work with read-only access. Billing exports can be written to a storage account or bucket in the GCC region you choose, such as UAE North, Qatar Central, Doha or Dammam, so the reports stay with your other data.
How much does cloud cost optimisation cost per month?
The provider tools we use, such as Azure Cost Management, AWS Cost Explorer and Google Cloud billing reports, are part of each cloud. What you pay for is the review and the monthly follow-up. We report savings against the baseline we measured at the start, so you can judge the work in money.
How long does it take to set up?
The first review starts as soon as read-only billing access is granted, and quick wins such as idle resources usually show up in the first pass. Rightsizing needs a short observation period on each server. Commitments come last, after the baseline is clean. We agree the review dates with you at kick-off.
What is a savings plan, and is it the same as a reservation?
A reservation commits to a specific machine type or family in a region; a savings plan commits to an hourly spend that can float across machine types. On Azure, reservations go up to 72% off and the savings plan for compute up to 65%. AWS Savings Plans go up to 72%. Both lock you in for one or three years. We can buy Azure reservations and savings plans for you through our CSP billing in each country we serve.
We moved to the cloud and it costs more than our server room. Is that normal?
It is common after a lift-and-shift, because servers are moved at their old size, run all day and night, and licences are often paid twice. Rightsizing, out-of-hours schedules and Azure Hybrid Benefit usually close much of the gap. A fair comparison also counts what the server room cost in hardware refresh, power, cooling and staff time.