AWS Cost Optimization
The AWS Cost Challenge
AWS pricing is complex — 200+ services, each with multiple pricing dimensions (compute, storage, transfer, API calls). Most organizations overspend by 20-35% due to overprovisioned resources, unused reserved capacity, and lack of visibility into data transfer costs.
EC2 Rightsizing
Start with CloudWatch CPU and memory utilization data over 14+ days. Instances consistently below 40% CPU are candidates for downsizing. Consider Graviton (ARM) instances for 20% cost savings on compute-heavy workloads. Use T-series burstable instances for variable workloads instead of fixed M-series.
Reserved Instances & Savings Plans
Compute Savings Plans offer the most flexibility — up to 66% savings on EC2, Fargate, and Lambda. Commit based on your steady-state minimum baseline, not peak usage. Use 1-year no-upfront commitments to start. Only move to 3-year all-upfront after validating your baseline is stable.
S3 Storage Optimization
Implement lifecycle policies: move objects to Infrequent Access after 30 days, Glacier after 90 days. Enable Intelligent-Tiering for unpredictable access patterns. Use S3 Analytics to identify objects that could move to cheaper tiers. Delete incomplete multipart uploads with lifecycle rules.
Data Transfer Costs
Data transfer often accounts for 10-15% of AWS bills. Use VPC endpoints for S3 and DynamoDB to avoid NAT Gateway charges. Choose regions strategically — inter-region transfer costs add up. Use CloudFront for content delivery instead of direct S3 access.
How Cloptima Helps
Cloptima provides unified AWS cost visibility with AI-powered recommendations. Our anomaly detection correlates cost spikes with deployments so you know exactly what changed. Team attribution shows which teams cost the most. Budget alerts prevent overruns before they happen.