Engineering Optimization: Cost Optimization for Engineers

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We began our journey as Cloud Solutions Architects and an AWS partner in 2014. Transitioning to FinOps from the engineering side, we recognize that while FinOps encompasses much more than just re-engineering, AWS cost optimization remains central to our approach. We believe that effective cost optimization for engineers can significantly contribute to funding the broader development of the FinOps practice. Additionally, leveraging resource management tools can enhance our ability to achieve these goals.

Assessment of opportunities in design and DevOps implementation to identify areas of improvement for AWS cost optimization. We can help you whiteboard designs and, if you have a build-out, we can review your architectural designs. By comparing them to the current resource expenses, we can pinpoint optimization opportunities that enhance cost optimization for engineers and effectively utilize resource management tools.

We can "Shift Left" with your team and provide advice on designs as they are considered for migration to the public cloud, focusing on AWS cost optimization. Our Chief FinOps Architect, Mark Szynaka, has successfully migrated over 150 applications from startups to Fortune 500 companies. If you are participating in the AWS MAP program, we utilize the CloudSaver MAP tool to identify MAP-related costs, ensuring effective cost optimization for engineers and efficient resource management tools.

We are Cloud Architects adept at AWS cost optimization, capable of analyzing your diagrams, correlating the cost reports, and pinpointing components that would benefit from a redesign or adjustment. Our expertise ensures effective cost optimization for engineers using resource management tools.

Utilize just-in-time capacity of resources and implement elastic auto-scaling for effective AWS cost optimization. Choose the best size resources to meet both your average and burst needs. By assisting engineers in redesigning for ephemeral EC2 instances, you can leverage auto-scaling, particularly in the Web tier, as part of cost optimization for engineers, making the most of your resource management tools.

Automatically pause, stop, or terminate resources based on best practices for AWS cost optimization. Do your development servers really need to be running on the weekends? By utilizing resource management tools, you can pause and restart, saving 95% of costs without ANY impact to agility, which is essential for effective cost optimization for engineers.

Once you understand your environment, it’s time to commit and save. We have worked with startup companies focusing on AWS cost optimization by committing to individual EC2 instances, all the way to negotiating a five-year, $250 million commitment for a Fortune 100 company, emphasizing the importance of effective cost optimization for engineers and leveraging resource management tools.

From the FinOps X 2023 show in San Diego, we have identified some compelling new AI-enabled tools for AWS cost optimization that help manage cost optimization changes, automate reserved instances, and catch anomalies. We utilize CloudFix as one of our resource management tools for automated resource hygiene and ProsperOps for Reserve Instances, making cost optimization for engineers more efficient.

To achieve effective AWS cost optimization, create a list of agreed upon cleanup rules and automate their enactment. This includes terminating unattached Internet Gateways, removing orphan EBS volumes, and migrating untouched storage to more cost-efficient S3 classes. Additionally, you should clean up or migrate unneeded snapshots and set alerts to pause databases without connections for more than two weeks. These are just a few opportunities for cost optimization for engineers using resource management tools.