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Cloud guide
Private vs public cloud: what it really costs
Public cloud is cheap to start and can be expensive to keep. Private cloud costs more on day one and often less by year three, if the load is steady. The only honest way to compare is with your own numbers over the same period. This calculator lets you do that.
Compare over3 to 5 years
Public winsSpiky, short-lived, fast-growing
Private winsSteady, 24x7, large
Always addPeople, egress, support
Try it
Five-year cost calculator
Every field is editable. The defaults are rough planning figures to get you started, not quotes. Replace them with your own prices.
Reading the result
- Steady load favours private. If VMs run around the clock for years, owned hardware usually costs less after the second or third year.
- Spiky or uncertain load favours public. Paying only for peak hours, or not knowing the size of next year's demand, is where public cloud earns its price.
- People are the biggest private cost. If you have no team to run a private cloud, add the cost of building one, or of outside support, before comparing.
- Commitments change the public picture. Reserved instances and savings plans can cut 30 to 60 percent off compute, in exchange for a one or three year commitment.
- Data transfer is the hidden public cost. Data leaving the cloud is charged. Applications that send a lot of data out can cost far more than their VMs.
What the calculator leaves out
- Migration effort and any application changes.
- Network links between sites, and disaster recovery.
- Hardware refresh after about five years on the private side.
- Taxes, and discounts you may negotiate beyond list prices.
For a proper comparison we build a costed model from your VM inventory and real quotes. Ask for one.
Planning a cloud move or a VMware exit?
Send us a VM inventory export (RVTools is fine) and a line on what is driving the change. We will come back with a plain first view: what could move where, in what order, and roughly what it would cost to run.