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writingengineeringaws

[PLACEHOLDER] Stop, drop and right-size: how we put out our AWS bill

[PLACEHOLDER] How fixing the defaults with platform baselines took our AWS bill from a steep curve to a flat line, and what we learned about keeping it there.

Tomlead software engineer · fintech

· 1 min read

[PLACEHOLDER] Tom’s write-up of how platform baselines brought our AWS bill back under control is on its way.

How we noticed

[PLACEHOLDER] What tipped us off, how long the bill had been climbing before anyone looked closely, and why it happened.

Illustrative chart, not real data: cloud spend curves up steeply, then falls and levels off once platform baselines start.
fig 1 · illustrative shape only, not real data

Platform baselines

[PLACEHOLDER] What a platform baseline is, why we fixed the defaults rather than doing a one-off clean-up, and how services move onto it.

Zero stamps a box on a conveyor belt, turning an odd-sized block into a neat, matching one with a tick.
fig 2 · every service starts from the same baseline

Finding the waste

[PLACEHOLDER] Where the money was actually going, and one example of what we found, what we changed and what it saved.

What we’ve learned so far

[PLACEHOLDER] What worked, what didn’t, and how we keep costs from creeping back.

What’s next

[PLACEHOLDER] Where the work goes from here, and what’s still left to do.

Like the sound of this?

If you like making systems leaner as much as building new ones, take a look at our open roles.

  • aws
  • cost
  • platform

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Tom

lead software engineer · fintech

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