ParkMyCloud asks: “Why pay for cloud instances when no one is using them?”

ParkMyCloud, the only lightweight app that lets cloud computing customers schedule on/off times for their idle cloud computing services, has announced its general availability for users of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Based in Sterling, VA, ParkMyCloud raised a seed round from White Hall Capital in July 2015.

Beta customers have realized dramatic reductions in their AWS cloud costs, allowing a yearly subscription of ParkMyCloud to pay for itself in less than a month in most cases. A monthly subscription starts at only $29 for its “Startup” tier.

“Whenever your boss comes over and says ‘Hey, why are we spending $8,000 a month on AWS EC2?’ you can show him how much you’re saving with parking,” said beta customer David Levinger, Senior Director of Information Technology, Paxata, a data preparation software company headquartered in Redwood City, California. “This is exactly the type of tool companies need. It’s simple and clean, and it’s an easy way to get cost savings on development resources you aren’t using.”

ParkMyCloud was founded on the premise that the cloud should be a true utility like power, water or gas. Imagine how much money you’d waste if you left all of the lights and appliances on when you’re not home. Hundreds of thousands of cloud users are in the exact same situation—wasting hundreds of millions of dollars paying for idle cloud computing services.

“Our research shows that companies are crying out for simple, standalone tools that help manage the fast-changing IT landscape,” said Jay Chapel, founder and CEO. “ParkMyCloud can help companies send hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced cloud computing costs straight to their bottom line.”

Cloud service providers like AWS, Azure and Google have exploded in popularity because they enable easy access to computing services with no upfront costs. But there’s a downside: Cloud computing services are billed hourly, and are “always on” unless customers specifically turn them off, which means customers are paying for computing time they don’t use—for example, between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. If companies just had a way to quickly and automatically turn off idle cloud computing services, the savings would be tremendous.

However, until now there has been no easy way to (a) view all compute services in a single, intuitive dashboard; and/or (b) turn these compute services on and off in a simple and automated way. Companies have tried scripting and cron jobs, but these methods are not automated or systematic. They require significant and continuous manual maintenance by an administrator who could otherwise be doing more valuable work.

ParkMyCloud is a simple SaaS tool that requires no installation. Cost reduction is quick and easy- just 3 simple steps:

1. Set up a ParkMyCloud account at http://www.parkmycloud.com
2. Connect with AWS to discover cloud computing services
3. Start “parking” cloud services with scheduled “on/off” times

About ParkMyCloud

ParkMyCloud is a cost-effective, lightweight app that reduces cloud computing costs by 20% or more, in just 15 minutes. This new app allows AWS users to pay only for the computing resources they’re actually using by scheduling on/off times (also known as “parking”) for their idle cloud computing services. ParkMyCloud is SaaS-based, so there’s nothing to download and no installation required. Customers are up and running in just three simple steps. More information can be found at http://www.parkmycloud.com.