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Case Study: Realizing AWS Cost Savings Through Cloud Optimization and DevSecOps Automation

  • Writer: Tim Mierzwa
    Tim Mierzwa
  • Jul 17
  • 2 min read

Background

As agencies increasingly migrate to the cloud to meet demands for scalability, security, and agility, cost management has emerged as a major challenge. A large federal science agency was experiencing ballooning monthly AWS bills due to underutilized resources, lack of automation, and fragmented infrastructure decisions. Challenge

Despite transitioning several mission-critical applications to AWS, the client lacked centralized governance over cloud spending. EC2 instances were overprovisioned, S3 storage grew uncontrollably, and environments remained active long after development sprints concluded. The client needed a systematic way to reduce AWS costs without sacrificing performance or security.


Nextonic's Solution

Nextonic Solutions implemented a comprehensive AWS Cost Optimization and Governance Framework by:

  • Right-Sizing Infrastructure: Conducted a utilization audit across EC2, RDS, and Lambda services. Rightsized over 40% of compute workloads using AWS Compute Optimizer recommendations.

  • Automation and Lifecycle Policies: Introduced DevSecOps pipelines to automatically shut down idle non-production environments and implemented intelligent lifecycle policies for S3 and EBS volumes.

  • Reserved Instance Strategy: Devised a commitment plan using Reserved and Savings Plans for predictable workloads, reducing on-demand instance usage by 65%.

  • Multi-Account Governance: Set up AWS Organizations with consolidated billing, Service Control Policies (SCPs), and cost allocation tags across business units.

  • CloudWatch + Cost Explorer Integration: Delivered real-time dashboards combining usage metrics and cost insights to inform operational decisions.


Results and Outcome

  • $6 million in savings across all Cloud environments

  • 30% Reduction in overall AWS monthly spend within three months

  • 95% Resource Coverage with tagging and automated policies

  • Increased Accountability via centralized dashboards for engineering and leadership

  • Zero Downtime or performance degradation during cost-reduction transition


Strategic Impact

Nextonic’s approach not only delivered tangible savings but also embedded a culture of accountability and sustainability in cloud usage. The client's AWS environment is now more resilient, predictable, and cost-effective, enabling reinvestment into mission-critical scientific initiatives without expanding budgets.

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