AWS FinOps in 2025: How Top Companies Cut Cloud Costs by 40%
Cloud cost optimization is the #1 priority for 84% of organizations in 2025. With AWS spending hitting record levels, FinOps practices have evolved from nice-to-have to essential. Here’s how leading companies are slashing their AWS bills.
The 2025 FinOps Maturity Model
| Level | Characteristics | Typical Savings |
|---|---|---|
| Crawl | Basic visibility, no commitments | 0-10% |
| Walk | Savings Plans, right-sizing | 20-30% |
| Run | Automated optimization, Spot, Graviton | 40-60% |
Quick Wins: Immediate Savings
# 1. Find and delete unused resources
# Unattached EBS volumes
aws ec2 describe-volumes \
--filters Name=status,Values=available \
--query 'Volumes[*].[VolumeId,Size,CreateTime]'
# Idle load balancers (no targets)
aws elbv2 describe-target-groups \
--query 'TargetGroups[?length(LoadBalancerArns)==`0`].TargetGroupArn'
# Old snapshots (90+ days)
aws ec2 describe-snapshots --owner-ids self \
--query 'Snapshots[?StartTime<=`2024-09-01`].[SnapshotId,VolumeSize]'
# 2. Enable S3 Intelligent-Tiering
aws s3api put-bucket-lifecycle-configuration \
--bucket my-bucket \
--lifecycle-configuration '{
"Rules": [{
"ID": "IntelligentTiering",
"Status": "Enabled",
"Filter": {},
"Transitions": [{
"Days": 0,
"StorageClass": "INTELLIGENT_TIERING"
}]
}]
}'
Savings Plans Strategy
Recommended Approach
- Analyze 30-day usage with Cost Explorer
- Commit to 60-70% of steady-state compute
- Use Compute Savings Plans (most flexible)
- Add EC2 Instance Savings Plans for predictable workloads
- Review quarterly and adjust
Graviton Migration ROI
# Before: x86 instances
m6i.xlarge: $0.192/hour x 720 hours = $138.24/month
# After: Graviton instances
m7g.xlarge: $0.163/hour x 720 hours = $117.36/month
# Monthly savings: $20.88 (15%)
# With Savings Plan: Additional 30-40%
# Total savings: ~50%
2025 FinOps Tools
- AWS Cost Explorer: Visualize and analyze spending
- AWS Budgets: Set alerts and automated actions
- Compute Optimizer: Right-sizing recommendations
- Cost Anomaly Detection: AI-powered spend alerts
- Savings Plans Recommendations: Commitment guidance
59% of organizations now have dedicated FinOps teams. If you don’t, you’re likely leaving 20-40% on the table.
