Managed FinOps Retainer
Keep your AWS bill under control — every month, not just once.
A senior-led Managed FinOps retainer for AWS-heavy tech companies and scale-ups across Australia and New Zealand. One accountable ex-Amazon practitioner — an AWS Top <1% “Bar Raiser” — owns your cloud cost and risk so your engineers can stay on the product.
The practitioner, not the dashboard.
Most AWS cost problems aren’t a lack of data — they’re a lack of senior time to act on it. Managed FinOps gives you a dedicated owner who reads your bill, decides what actually matters, makes the calls with your engineers, and stays accountable for the result. It’s judgement-led, not tool-led.
Ash Ahlawat
Ex-Amazon · AWS Top <1% Bar Raiser
A clear monthly scope — defined at onboarding, not sold as add-ons.
Monthly cost review
A senior read of the previous month's spend and usage — what changed, what it cost, and what to do about it. No raw dashboards to interpret yourself.
Right-sizing & commitment management
Continuous right-sizing of over-provisioned resources, plus Savings Plans and Reserved Instance strategy managed against actual, evolving usage.
Cost-anomaly watch
Cost spikes and drift are caught early and investigated to root cause — not discovered on next month's invoice.
Quarterly architecture check
A regular look at whether the architecture still fits the workload, so cost discipline holds at the design level, not just the line-item level.
AWS-heavy teams with a bill that keeps climbing.
The retainer is built for tech companies and scale-ups running meaningful, growing AWS workloads — where cost and architecture decisions have real commercial weight, but there’s no dedicated senior owner watching them. SCAI is AWS-deep by design; Azure and GCP are supported only where a specific workload genuinely fits. See also AWS cost optimization in Australia & ANZ.
Anonymised past outcomes — results vary by environment.
How engagements start
Most retainers begin with a Cost & Risk Review.
The fixed-fee AWS Cost & Risk Review finds where your bill is leaking, what to cut, and the top security and reliability risks beside it. From there, the Managed FinOps retainer implements and sustains the gains — so the savings hold instead of drifting back.
Common Questions
FinOps, answered.
What is a FinOps retainer?
A FinOps retainer is an ongoing engagement that keeps your AWS spend under control month after month — rather than a one-off audit. Each month we review cost and usage, right-size what has drifted, manage commitments (Savings Plans and Reserved Instances), watch for cost anomalies, and keep the architecture honest with a quarterly review.
How is this different from a FinOps tool?
A tool shows you dashboards; it still needs someone senior to decide what to act on and to make the calls with engineering. Managed FinOps is the practitioner, not the dashboard — an ex-Amazon engineer who reads your bill, prioritises the changes that matter, and stays accountable for the outcome.
Do I need a FinOps consultant if my team already uses AWS?
Most AWS-heavy teams are excellent at building and shipping, and cost discipline quietly slips down the priority list until the bill forces the issue. A retainer gives you a dedicated senior owner of cost and risk so your engineers stay focused on the product.
How does Managed FinOps relate to the AWS Cost & Risk Review?
The AWS Cost & Risk Review is the fixed-fee starting point — it finds where the bill is leaking and the risks beside it. Managed FinOps is the recurring engagement that implements and sustains those gains over time. The review typically converts into the retainer, but you can take either on its own.
What AWS environments does this suit?
AWS-heavy tech companies and scale-ups, typically with a meaningful and growing monthly AWS bill. SCAI is AWS-deep by design; Azure and GCP are supported only where a specific workload genuinely fits.