ZeroWaste 2.0: Uncover and Optimize Hidden AWS Costs Effortlessly

We have revamped our ZeroWaste cost optimization report experience! Previously, we distributed a bi-weekly or monthly excel report via email, focused on identifying potential waste in specific areas:

• EBS Volumes: Old Snapshots and unused/unattached Snapshots
• EC2 Instances: Over-provisioned instances and old generations
• ALB/ELB: Unused load balancers
• RDS Instances: Unused instances and over-provisioned RDS instances
• RDS Storage: RDS instances using gp2 that could be migrated to gp3
• S3 Buckets: Buckets with no lifecycle policy
• EBS Volumes: EBS Volumes that can be moved from gp2 to gp3
• Redshift Clusters: Underutilized Redshift Instances
• CloudWatch Logs: No expiration date set
• Lambda Functions: Over-provisioned Lambda functions for memory size

After carefully listening to feedback, we found that while the data was highly valuable, our users desired a more dynamic experience with regularly updated information. They also expressed interest in the ability to create “focused” reports—those with customized filters—that could be shared with team members to take action on.

TL;DR

• New in-app dashboard experience with filters.
• Send and deliver focused ZeroWaste reports to engineering teams and stakeholders via email.

In-app Experience

Starting today, Growth and Enterprise users with access to ZeroWaste can enjoy a dynamic, in-app experience that includes filters similar to those in our popular “Detective Tool“. The filters allows for focused and targeted ZeroWaste reports, which then can be shared with team members:

After configuring your filters and clicking ‘Investigate’, users will receive a summarized view of areas with potential waste, sorted by ‘Total Amortized Costs Last 30 days’. Users can also share this link with the applied filters:

By clicking ‘Look It Up’, users will gain detailed insights into each area and a roll up of the individual resources. These views can also be shared via shareable links or downloaded as a CSV file:

Focused Email Reports

In addition to the new dashboards, users now have the option to enhance their existing AWS Cost Management Reports that are being sent to teams with a new “ZeroWaste Email Report” add-on:

With existing filters of sub-accounts or tags applied, engineering teams and stakeholders can receive a focused ZeroWaste email report of resources they are responsible for and potentially take action on.

Furthermore, these email reports include links that direct users to the in-app dashboard for immediate, in-depth AWS resource management:

Upcoming Improvements

We are in the process of making further enhancements to ZeroWaste. Here’s what you can expect:

• AWS Trusted Advisor Integration: We’re working on incorporating Trusted Advisor’s cost-optimization insights into ZeroWaste. These insights will be filterable by AWS sub-accounts and tags.
• Additional Cost Savings Policies: Do you have a unique cost-optimization scenario for an AWS service that you’d like to gain more visibility into? We’re all ears. Your feedback could help us develop more comprehensive policies to enhance ZeroWaste’s user capabilities.

Final Thoughts

Navigating AWS cost optimization within an organization can be tricky, dynamic, and complex at a larger organization. Our primary goal with this feature has been to provide a “health check” roll-up on the potential hidden wasted AWS costs.

By proactively delivering these reports to our users’ inboxes, we’re making AWS cost insights more accessible to the whole engineering organization. This allows engineering teams to easily monitor AWS costs, be aware of resources they are responsible for, and uncover potential waste within their environments.

If you’re not a Growth of Enterprise user and want to try this new feature, feel free to reach out! I am happy to provide you with a free 7-day trial access: [email protected]