Ongoing AWS Cost Optimization · Monthly Retainer
Managed FinOps Retainer: Stop the Savings From Sliding Back
The audit finds €50K–200K in waste. Without ongoing management, 40–60% of that waste creeps back within 6 months - new deployments, changed workloads, expired commitments.
This retainer keeps the scale tipped: €3K/month for continuous optimization that a full-time hire would cost €8K–12K/month to match.
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What's Included Every Month
No tiered packages. Every retainer client gets the same full service.
Monthly cost review
Full AWS cost breakdown every month. New findings, trend analysis, and comparison to the previous month's baseline.
Terraform/CDK pull requests
Implementation of newly identified savings as IaC PRs ready for your team to review and merge.
Commitment management
Savings Plans and Reserved Instance purchase recommendations, utilization monitoring, and renewal planning.
Anomaly detection & alerts
I monitor your AWS Cost Anomaly Detection and alert you immediately when unusual spend patterns appear - before they become a surprise bill.
Monthly report
A concise report with identified savings, implemented changes, and forecast for the next month. Board-ready format.
Monthly 2-hour consultation call
Dedicated monthly call with you and your engineering lead to review findings, discuss priorities, and plan the next month's optimizations.
Slack/email support
Async support for AWS cost questions, architecture reviews, and new service cost estimates during the engagement.
What Happens If You Stop After the Audit?
Your team implements the top findings. AWS bill drops 30–40%. Everyone celebrates.
New features ship. New resources get provisioned at default sizes. Nobody's watching the bill. Savings start eroding.
Half the savings are gone. The bill is climbing again. The CTO says "we should probably do another audit." But now you've lost 4 months of savings - €20K–80K that quietly disappeared.
The retainer prevents this. Every month, new waste gets caught before it compounds. Your savings don’t just stick - they grow.
Who It's For
Good fit
- Series A–C startups spending €10K–500K/month on AWS
- No dedicated FinOps or cloud cost engineer on the team
- Engineering team wants implementation, not just dashboards
- CTO or VP Eng who wants monthly accountability on cloud spend
- Companies preparing for a fundraise (investors ask about unit economics)
Not a fit
- ✕Pre-seed with less than €5K/month AWS spend
- ✕Enterprises with a dedicated FinOps team
- ✕Companies spending less than the retainer fee (poor ROI)
Retainer vs Full-Time Hire
At €3K/month, the retainer pays for itself if it saves more than €3K in AWS costs - which it typically does in the first month alone.
| The Expensive Way (Full-Time Hire) | The Smart Way (CloudCostDown) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | €8,500–12,500 (salary + benefits) | €3,000 |
| Time to first results | 3–6 months (hire + ramp) | Month 1 |
| Commitment | 12+ months (headcount) | 6-month minimum, then month-to-month |
| Scope | Often broader than FinOps | 100% AWS cost focus |
| Implementation | Yes (if technical) | Yes - IaC PRs every month |
| ROI guarantee | None | Implied by savings vs fee |
Month-by-Month Engagement Timeline
Baseline audit + quick wins
Full AWS cost audit (included in retainer start). IaC PRs for the highest-impact findings. Establish tagging standards and cost allocation setup.
Commit + rightsize
Purchase Savings Plans based on rightsized baseline. Implement remaining audit findings. Set up Cost Anomaly Detection.
Optimize architecture
VPC endpoint implementation, cross-AZ traffic analysis, storage tier migration. Savings tracking against Month 1 baseline.
Continuous improvement
Monthly cost review, new findings, RI/SP renewal management, anomaly response. Regular check-ins with your engineering lead.
“I Almost Didn’t Continue After the Audit”
A Series B data platform did the audit and found €94K/year in savings. The CTO implemented the quick wins but hesitated on the retainer. “We can handle it ourselves,” he said.
Four months later, he came back. New deployments had erased half the savings. His team was too busy shipping features to watch the bill. He signed the retainer and within 60 days, the savings were back - plus an additional €31K/year from new findings his team had missed.
“The retainer doesn’t cost €3K/month. Not having it does.”