The Challenge
A digital agency managing AWS infrastructure for 12 different clients was struggling with escalating costs. Each client environment had been set up at different times by different team members, leading to inconsistent configurations and significant waste across the portfolio.
Key Pain Points
- No standardized approach to AWS resource provisioning
- Each client environment managed independently with no cost visibility
- Billing complexity making it difficult to accurately charge clients
- Total monthly AWS spend across all accounts: $24,900
The Analysis
I performed a comprehensive audit across all 12 client accounts, treating them as a portfolio to identify common patterns and optimization opportunities that could be applied systematically.
Portfolio-Wide Findings
- Inconsistent Instance Sizing: Same workload types running on vastly different instance sizes across clients
- No Cross-Account Savings Plans: Missing out on consolidated billing benefits
- S3 Storage Sprawl: 8TB of data in S3 Standard that should be in cheaper storage classes
- Unused Elastic IPs: 23 allocated but unused Elastic IPs across accounts ($92/month)
- Over provisioned NAT Gateways: Multiple NAT Gateways where one would suffice
The Solution
I developed a standardized optimization framework that the agency could apply across all current and future client accounts:
Phase 1: Quick Wins (Week 1-2)
- Released 23 unused Elastic IPs
- Consolidated NAT Gateways where possible
- Implemented S3 Intelligent-Tiering across all accounts
- Deleted 2.3TB of orphaned EBS snapshots
Phase 2: Rightsizing (Week 3-4)
- Created instance sizing guidelines based on workload types
- Right sized 34 instances across all accounts
- Standardized development environment configurations
Phase 3: Commitment Optimization (Week 5-6)
- Implemented organization-level Savings Plans
- Purchased Reserved Instances for stable workloads
- Set up cross-account cost allocation tags
The Results
The optimization was rolled out systematically across all client accounts:
| Metric | Before | After | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Monthly Spend | $24,900 | $16,200 | -35% |
| Average Cost per Client | $2,075 | $1,350 | -35% |
| Storage Costs | $6,200 | $3,800 | -39% |
| Compute Costs | $15,400 | $10,100 | -34% |
Business Impact
- Monthly Savings: $8,700
- Annual Savings: $104,400
- New Revenue Stream: Agency now offers AWS optimization as a service
- Client Retention: Improved by demonstrating proactive cost management
Key Takeaways
- Portfolio approach multiplies savings – Patterns identified in one account often apply to others
- Standardization prevents future waste – Consistent configurations make ongoing optimization easier
- Consolidated billing unlocks discounts – Organization-level Savings Plans provide better rates
- Cost visibility builds trust – Accurate cost allocation strengthens client relationships
- Optimization can become a service – Turn cost management expertise into additional revenue