AWS Cost Optimization Playbook
Practical strategies for reducing AWS spend without sacrificing performance or reliability. A FinOps-driven approach to cloud cost management.
The FinOps Cycle
Enable AWS Cost Explorer, set up cost allocation tags, and create per-team/per-service cost dashboards. You cannot optimize what you cannot see.
Right-size instances, clean up unused resources, switch to Graviton for applicable workloads, and implement auto-scaling.
Purchase Reserved Instances or Savings Plans for steady-state workloads. Use spot instances for fault-tolerant batch processing.
Set up automated alerts, scheduled scaling, and unused resource cleanup scripts that run on a weekly schedule.
Quick Wins
Right-Size EC2
Review CloudWatch CPU/memory metrics. Most instances are over-provisioned. Downsize to the smallest instance that handles peak load.
S3 Lifecycle Rules
Move infrequently accessed objects to S3-IA after 30 days, Glacier after 90 days. Delete incomplete multipart uploads.
Unused EBS Volumes
Find and delete unattached EBS volumes and outdated snapshots. These accumulate silently and add up fast.
NAT Gateway Review
NAT Gateway charges per GB processed. Use VPC endpoints for S3/DynamoDB and review cross-AZ traffic patterns.
Monitoring & Alerts
- Set AWS Budgets with alerts at 50%, 75%, and 100% thresholds
- Enable Cost Anomaly Detection for unexpected spend spikes
- Review Cost Explorer weekly and tag untagged resources
- Use Trusted Advisor for automated right-sizing recommendations
- Track cost-per-transaction or cost-per-user as a key metric
Want an AWS cost audit? Get in touch and we will identify your biggest savings opportunities.