A 43% Cloud Cost Reduction for Keeper Solutions
An IT consulting firm cut its own cloud spend by around 43% across GCP and Azure through dynamic scaling, scheduling and rightsizing.
Company Overview
Keeper Solutions provides IT consulting and business transformation services to organisations adopting cloud and digital platforms, so it is a technically sophisticated business by any measure.
Even so, it recognised that its own platform-as-a-service environments, the managed cloud services it ran its workloads on, needed optimising to bring costs down, and it was candid enough to turn the lens on itself.
Problem Statement
It is easy for a capable engineering organisation to assume its own house is in order, but services configured to run all the time regardless of demand will quietly cost more than they should. The opportunity here was to align how resources scaled with how they were actually used.
Outcome Delivered
By moving CloudRun and PaaS databases off always-on, scheduling workloads and rightsizing what was oversized, the firm cut its cloud spend by roughly 43% and gained the confidence that it can grow without carrying hidden cost.
Executive Overview
Together these changes delivered savings of around 43%, which not only reduced monthly spend but gave the business confidence that its cloud workloads were being managed efficiently, so it could grow without carrying hidden costs.
Our Approach
The review showed that 53% of costs were being driven by CloudRun services and a further 26% by PaaS databases, both configured as always-on, which meant the business was paying for capacity around the clock whether or not it was needed. We also found inefficiencies across compute and networking where scaling policies were not aligned with real-world demand.
We reconfigured CloudRun to scale dynamically, introduced scheduling so workloads ran only when required, and rightsized underutilised resources.
Challenges
Challenges Faced
Every engagement starts with a clear-eyed view of what was actually getting in the way, because you cannot fix what you cannot see. Here we set out the real constraints the client was working within, the costs and risks they were carrying, and the gaps that needed closing before any meaningful progress could be made.
Let's Transform Your Enterprise Today
Send an EnquiryOptimising its own estate
A technically strong firm recognised that its own PaaS environments still needed optimisation, and acted on it.
CloudRun dominating cost
CloudRun services were driving 53% of total cost, the single largest contributor.
Always-on PaaS databases
PaaS databases accounted for a further 26%, and like CloudRun were configured as always-on.
Capacity paid for around the clock
Always-on configuration meant paying for capacity continuously, regardless of whether it was being used.
Deployed solutions
What We Did
A look at how we approached the work, from the first discovery sessions through to the changes we put in place, and the thinking behind each decision along the way. The aim is always the same, to deliver something measurable that the client owns and can build on, rather than a one-off fix that fades once we leave.
Dynamic scaling for CloudRun
CloudRun services were reconfigured to scale with demand rather than running flat out at all times.
Workload scheduling
Scheduling was introduced so workloads ran only when they were actually needed, rather than around the clock.
Rightsizing underused resources
Underutilised resources were rightsized to match the work they were genuinely doing.
Compute and networking tuning
Inefficiencies across compute and networking were addressed where scaling policies had drifted from real demand.
Around 43% lower spend
The combined effect was a reduction in monthly spend of roughly 43%.
Confidence to grow
The business gained confidence that workloads were managed efficiently, so future growth would not bring hidden cost.