Client story City Government Gets Expert Help Driving Costs Down With AWS
By Insight Editor / 2 Jun 2020 / Topics: Cloud cost optimization Cloud Consolidation Data protection
Facts at a glance
Client industry
City government
Insight provided:
- Cloud backup strategic and technical support
- Assistance with setup of AWS Storage Gateway
- Customized Reserved Instance analysis for EC2 and RDS
Insight services:
- Backup to cloud
- Cloud cost optimization services
Outcomes:
Download the client story
- Lower backup costs
- Cost-effective and scalable backup in the AWS cloud
- Better visibility into Reserved Instance usage history
- Ability to make data-driven decisions about cloud spend in the future
- Freed up financial resources for other city initiatives/needs
The client
The client is the city government of a large West Coast metropolis. The city manages dozens of departments and bureaus that oversee programs and services to support the health and vitality of the city and its residents.
The challenge: Reduce backup costs by moving to cloud and support AWS cost optimization
City governments are given the enormous responsibility of making sound investments on the behalf of their constituents and local businesses. Of course, this includes investments in IT infrastructure and services. All costs must be accounted for and justifiable.
The city had been running a number of workloads in AWS® with success. However, they needed targeted support in two areas: (1) setting up resources in AWS to back up their on-premises data in the cloud, as their existing solution was becoming cost prohibitive; and (2) analyzing Reserved Instances to help determine usage and spend trends. In both cases, the city was primarily looking to reduce costs where and how they could.
The solution: Expert guidance in moving backup to AWS, and Reserved Instance analysis
As the city did not have access to AWS® Business Support, they needed another way to back up their data to AWS. Insight provided consultative support, helping them understand and evaluate their options. Ultimately, they opted to use AWS Storage Gateway. Our team helped the city’s engineers set up Storage Gateway and optimize it for their storage needs.
To address their other objective, we needed to identify and assess the city’s use of Reserved Instances in AWS. Although normally this can be done using third-party tools, this project required manual analysis, which our team provided for them across their EC2 and RDS environments.
The benefits: Scalable, cost-effective backup and the foundation for a cost-optimized AWS environment
Our work with and for the city helped them drive down both short- and long-term IT costs.
The city will realize lower costs for backup by moving data stores from an expensive on-premises option with limited capacity for scale, to a much more cost-effective solution in AWS. With increased visibility into their cloud utilization and spend, the city now has the data and insight to make better decisions going forward about their Reserved Instances and other purchases.
