Managing cloud infrastructure efficiently is essential for organizations aiming to scale sustainably. However, without the right strategy, AWS costs can quickly spiral out of control, making an AWS cost cut imperative. Businesses often pay for unused resources, underutilized services, or misconfigured environments. In this case study, we demonstrate how our team helped one client reduce their AWS spending by a staggering 73%, using data-driven insights and practical cloud cost optimization techniques.
The challenge
Our client from the Telecom industry approached us with a common but critical concern: their AWS cloud infrastructure costs were growing out of control. Without a clear strategy for optimization, they were spending significantly more than necessary on services like EC2, S3, and AWS Transfer Family. They needed expert guidance to regain control of their spending – without compromising performance.
Our approach
We conducted a comprehensive audit of their AWS environment to uncover cost-saving opportunities. By analyzing usage patterns and resource configurations, we created a targeted plan to eliminate waste, right-size services, and automate workloads.
As a result, we’ve provided the client with a comprehensive optimization plan that could reduce their cloud spending by up to 73% annually.
Our approach focused on four key areas:
- Right-sizing resources,
- Removing unused services,
- Automating usage schedules,
- Replacing expensive services with leaner alternatives.
Cost optimization strategies
Optimizing EC2 Usage
Impact: Very high | Effort: Medium
Projected yearly savings: 76%
EC2 was the biggest cost driver. We identified that many instances were either underutilized or completely unused. Here’s how we recommended to it:
- Stop idle instances such as QA and Kubernetes setups.
- Decommission legacy instances that no longer serve a purpose.
- Automate schedules for development environments, shutting them down during weekends and outside working hours.
Simplifying SFTP with EC2
Impact: Medium | Effort: Medium
The client used AWS Transfer Family for SFTP, but it was heavily underutilized – only one user accessed it occasionally. We recommended replacing it with a basic EC2 instance running an SFTP server.
This simple switch will slash the cost of this service by 95%, with minimal setup and maintenance required.
S3 cleanup
Impact: Low | Effort: Low
S3 wasn’t a major cost factor, but it still had room for improvement. A quick cleanup of outdated files yielded significant savings on S3-related charges. This pointed to the importance of routine S3 monitoring to prevent unnecessary cost accumulation.
The result
Our tailored strategy offered the client a clear path to saving up to 73% on their AWS bill, with most changes requiring only medium effort to implement.
Key savings opportunities
| # | AWS service | Strategy | Percentage savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EC2 | Remove unused instances, schedule non-critical usage | 76% |
| 2 | AWS Transfer Family | Replace SFTP service with a lightweight EC2 setup | 95% |
| 3 | Elastic Load Balancing | Cost reduction as a result of EC2 optimizations | 12% |
| 4 | S3 | Clean up old and unused data | 87% |
| Estimated total annual savings | 73% | ||
*We use an assumption of 10% yearly growth for the calculations
These cost-saving actions can be deployed quickly and with low risk. The client was recommended to implement them as soon as possible to begin reducing AWS expenditures immediately – and to build a more sustainable, cost-conscious cloud environment going forward.
