Rate optimization
27% effective savings rate on compute, tracked in real time
A fast-growing payments platform raised its commitment coverage from 38% to 92% and saved $251K in six months, with only a 30-day commitment and no changes to its workloads.
The challenge
Compute spend was growing every month, and most of it ran at on-demand rates. The team had bought Savings Plans in the past, but uneven growth left some commitments underused, so finance was reluctant to approve more. Engineering had no time to forecast usage precisely enough to commit with confidence.
Client profile
- Industry
- Payments and fintech
- Cloud provider
- AWS
- Monthly spend
- $180K, growing about 2% a month
- Starting point
- 38% commitment coverage, mostly on-demand compute
Scenarios evaluated
Before starting, we modelled four ways to reduce the client's compute rates over a year, based on an annual on-demand equivalent spend of about $2.28M.
| Option | Commitment required | Savings rate | Est. annual savings | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on on-demand pricing | None | 0% | $0 | No savings as spend grows |
| Buy 1-year Savings Plans in-house | 1-year, sized by the client | ~16% | ~$365K | Medium: unused commitment if growth slows |
| Buy 3-year Savings Plans in-house | 3-year, sized by the client | Up to 28% | Up to $640K | High: 3-year lock-in and forecasting risk |
| Cloud Numericals managed portfolioSelected | 30 days | 27% | ~$616K | Low: coverage adjusts as usage changes |
What we did
Connected read-only access to the AWS Cost and Usage Report in a single onboarding call.
Analysed 12 months of hourly usage to separate steady baseline compute from variable and seasonal load.
Covered the steady baseline from our managed commitment portfolio, so the client needed only a 30-day commitment rather than a 1- or 3-year term.
Adjusted coverage automatically as usage changed, keeping utilisation high as the platform grew.
Gave finance and engineering a shared NumeriQ dashboard showing savings as they were realised.
The outcome
The cost reduction was visible on the NumeriQ dashboard within the first 24 hours after rate optimization was applied, and savings reached a steady 27% effective rate by month five. Because coverage adjusts continuously, the savings rate held as spend grew, and finance now reports realised savings to the board directly from the shared dashboard.
Savings tracked in real time
The cost reduction appears on the client's NumeriQ dashboard within the first 24 hours after rate optimization is applied, and savings are tracked continuously. Realized savings by month:
| Month | On-demand equivalent | Actual spend | Savings | Savings rate | Cumulative savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | $180,000 | $165,600 | $14,400 | 8% | $14,400 |
| Month 2 | $184,000 | $149,040 | $34,960 | 19% | $49,360 |
| Month 3 | $188,000 | $142,880 | $45,120 | 24% | $94,480 |
| Month 4 | $192,000 | $142,080 | $49,920 | 26% | $144,400 |
| Month 5 | $196,000 | $143,080 | $52,920 | 27% | $197,320 |
| Month 6 | $200,000 | $146,000 | $54,000 | 27% | $251,320 |
| First six months | $1,140,000 | $888,680 | $251,320 | 22% | $251,320 |
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