Managing AWS infrastructure efficiently is a constant challenge — especially as systems evolve and legacy configurations remain unchanged. A global provider of logistics software recently asked us to review their AWS usage. Within just a few days, we uncovered simple but impactful changes that could reduce their AWS cloud spend by over 33%, all with minimal risk and effort.
The Challenge: Growing AWS costs and legacy configurations
Our client was facing steadily increasing AWS expenses, particularly from EC2 and RDS services. Much of their infrastructure had been overprovisioned or was relying on outdated setups. Key issues included:
- No use of reserved instances for databases
- Overprovisioned test and staging environments
- Old and unused EBS snapshots and volumes
They needed a targeted AWS cost optimization effort — fast.
Our Approach: Fast, high-impact audit
We conducted a rapid audit focused on high-savings areas:
- EC2 usage in dev and performance environments
- PostgreSQL RDS configurations
- EBS storage and snapshot cleanup
Even small inefficiencies, once combined, represented thousands of dollars in annual cloud savings.
AWS cloud spend optimization tactics & results
EC2: Rightsizing non-production environments
Impact: Medium | Effort: Low
We identified oversized EC2 instances in test and performance environments. Downgrading to smaller instance types reduced unnecessary compute costs.
Estimated savings: ~15.5% reduction in EC2-related costs
RDS: Upgrade + Use Reserved Instances
Impact: Very High | Effort: Medium
Upgrading from PostgreSQL 12 (to eliminate extended support fees) and committing to reserved instances delivered substantial RDS savings.
Estimated savings: ~77–80% reduction in RDS costs
EC2-other: EBS snapshot cleanup
Impact: Low | Effort: Low
We deleted unused volumes and old snapshots, addressing storage bloat.
Estimated savings: ~8.4% reduction in EC2-related storage costs
Total estimated savings: Over 33%
| AWS Service | Optimization Strategy | Est. Cost Savings |
| EC2 | Rightsizing test & dev instances | ~15.5% |
| RDS (PostgreSQL) | Engine upgrade + reserved instances | 77–80% |
| EC2 (Storage) | Remove unused EBS volumes & snapshots | ~8.4% |
Ready to reclaim control over your AWS costs?
Whether you’re managing high-traffic production systems or underused dev environments, cloud cost creep is real. Let us help you identify waste and reduce AWS cloud spend — fast.
