How to Optimise Your Spend and Take Control of Cost With AWS
Cost Optimisation is the fifth pillar of the AWS Well-Architected Framework , and it focuses on enabling businesses to operate at the lowest cost while delivering high value to their customers. Through AWS, businesses can develop workloads to optimise investment spend, giving them maximum returns.
The cost optimisation pillar uses five core design principles and five best practices to guide organizations on how they can make the most of cloud services and take control over their finances.
Five Design Principles of Cost Optimisation
1. Implement Cloud Financial Management
Cloud financial management systems are essential when handling business costs. By building knowledge, suitable financial programs, and value-driven processes through AWS, your business can achieve cost efficiency.
Programs such as Cost Explorer can help an organisation track spend across all departments. AWS Budgets may be programmed to send notifications regarding cost control.
2. Adopt a Consumption Model
This involves using only the AWS programs you need and adjusting usage depending on actual requirements. This practice avoids the use of expensive and unnecessary forecasting to determine computing requirements.
3. Measure Overall Efficiency
Take control of your spending by measuring output levels and costs of each workload, then analyzing the data to find savings opportunities. AWS analytical programs can be used to measure this.
4. Stop Spending Your Money on Undifferentiated Heavy Lifting
Let AWS control complex tasks such as data operations and server management. With fully optimised AWS systems replacing expensive manual operations, your team can focus on core competencies and important projects.
5. Analyse and Attribute Expenditure
AWS cloud systems can provide accurate information regarding usage and costs within your organisation. This allows you to allocate expenditure to specific workloads to achieve monetary goals.
Five Best Practices of Cost Optimisation
Coinciding with the design pillars there are five best practices to ensure businesses gain control of their financial situation.
1. Practice Cloud Financial Management
This aligns with the first design principle, and involves organising your business to meet financial goals, through effective cloud financial management systems.
2. Expenditure and Usage Awareness
Using AWS services, like AWS Organisations or AWS Control Tower, businesses can break down and organise expenditure and usage. This helps them to manage resources more efficiently.
3. Cost-Effective Resources
A major advantage of using AWS is the cost, since it offers many cost-effective resources that can replace existing manual systems.
4. Manage Demand and Supply Resources
With AWS, you only pay for the programs that you use, giving you maximum control over expenditure on resources.
5. Optimise Over Time
AWS continually releases new services, allowing users to upgrade and progress constantly. Businesses should review existing architectural structures regularly to determine if further optimisation is needed.
Work With WOLK Today
To gain control of your costs and to optimise spending and investment, get in touch with WOLK. As a certified AWS Well-Architected Framework reviewer, we can operate alongside your business to help achieve your financial goals.