Five AWS Cost Optimisations I Implement on Every Engagement

Your AWS bill is probably higher than it needs to be.

Here are five optimisations I implement in every one of my engagements.

Right-Sizing Your Environment

Right-size your EC2 instances using AWS Compute Optimizer. Most teams over-provision their compute resources out of caution or outdated sizing decisions.

In my experience, the tool frequently identifies opportunities for 20% or more in immediate savings by analysing your actual usage patterns and recommending more appropriate instance types.

Compute Optimizer, excluding enhanced infrastructure metrics for EC2, is included at no additional cost. There really is no reason not to be using it.

Use Reserved Instances

This should come as no surprise but try to commit to Reserved Instances for your predictable workloads. If you have stable production environments that run continuously, a one-year commitment delivers approximately a 40% discount compared to on-demand pricing.

This is one of the most straightforward cost optimisations available for workloads with consistent utilisation.

S3 Lifecycle Policies

Data that is accessed infrequently should automatically transition to Glacier storage classes through the use of S3 Lifecycle Policies.

I had one client achieve $15,000 in annual savings with just two hours of policy configuration work, simply by moving historical logs and backups to appropriate storage tiers.

EBS Clean-Ups

When instances are terminated, their attached volumes often remain as orphaned resources that continue accruing charges.

These forgotten volumes accumulate quickly and represent pure waste in your infrastructure spending. Audit and delete unused EBS volumes at a cadence that makes sense for your organisation.

Leverage Spot Instances

You can achieve 70-90% cost reduction for jobs that can tolerate interruption, making them ideal for CI/CD pipelines, data processing tasks, and testing environments.

The cost savings here are substantial for teams running significant compute workloads.

Cost Optimisation as Good Architecture

Cost optimisation is not merely about reducing expenses. It reflects efficient architecture and thoughtful resource management. When you optimise costs, you are also typically improving your system's design and operational practices.

What is your biggest AWS cost challenge?