Overview
Challenge
Efficiently provide engineering with detailed cloud spend reporting and engage engineers in cloud cost optimization
Solution
PointFive’s Analytics Module and Opportunities Engine
Cloud Providers
Related Cloud Services
EC2, RDS, S3
Results
- Unified cloud spend reporting delivered during monthly engineering meetings.
- Opportunities that provide insight provided to engineering to eliminate waste and build an efficiency roadmap.
- High levels of engineering engagement in cost optimization.
Background
Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global leader in branded payment solutions, sought to unify cloud reporting and optimization to a single platform. The complexity of their cloud infrastructure and frequent changes made it difficult to rely on legacy FinOps solutions and the cloud platform's native reporting tools for monthly spend reports segmented by business unit. They were also looking for a way to automatically attribute cloud spend to each individual engineer and further instill a sense of ownership and accountability within their teams. Existing tools also failed to provide actionable insights, drive efficiency, eliminate waste, and reduce costs. They needed a comprehensive solution to streamline cloud cost management, drive engineering accountability, and find inefficiencies without disrupting day to day operations.
Objectives
Provide detailed reporting on Cloud Usage for monthly Engineering and executive meetings
Provide engineers with contextualized insights to drive engineering efficiency and optimize costs
Challenges
Initially, BHN had reservations about adopting yet another new tool, concerned that it might not fulfill their reporting needs. This was especially important because existing tooling lacked flexible data segmentation and visualization capabilities, limiting their ability to monitor cloud spend across the organization. They also struggled to present engineers with recommendations to optimize cloud configurations. Finally, without actionable insights, full attribution, and context, they struggled to make FinOps an engineering responsibility.
Solution
PointFive provided BHN its Analytics module, enabling the organization to access and visualize data using the platform's fully integrated BI tool. This enabled them to create their own custom dashboards and reports for daily and monthly use, visualizing present and past monthly costs, while attributing them to specific teams. These visualizations were crucial for understanding resource usage trends month over month, identifying patterns across resource types, and specifically analyzing the usage of ephemeral and persistent storage. The Opportunities engine presented detailed remediation recommendations to limit cloud waste and reduce costs. Unlike other tools, PointFive helped uncover inefficiencies that the engineering organization wasn’t aware of.
These non-trivial discoveries helped drive the interest and engagement of engineers. Engineers were not only given basic configuration diagnosis and potential savings estimates but were also provided with in-depth analyses of each opportunity. This included detailed workflows and the necessary context to understand how to implement changes and forecast outcomes. By showcasing these actionable insights, PointFive made it easier for engineers to make informed decisions, fostering a culture of ownership and proactive optimization within the engineering teams.
Results
BHN experienced significant benefits from implementing PointFive's solution:
Detailed Cost and Usage Analysis
With access to PointFive's Analytics module, the organization gained immediate and accurate insights into their cloud costs and usage metrics. This enabled them to generate monthly reports for the engineering team, facilitating transparent communication about resource consumption and financial impact.
Understanding usage trends and patterns allowed for better planning and optimization of cloud resources.
Actionable Cloud Optimization Opportunities
The in depth and detailed recommendations provided by the Opportunities engine led to immediate buy-in from the engineering organization. Engineers were presented with actionable data-driven opportunities to update cloud configurations, making eliminating waste and reducing costs easier.
The in-depth analyses, remediation steps, and forecasts empowered engineers to take ownership of their cloud expenditures and actively participate in cost-saving initiatives.
Conclusion
BHN was looking for a partner to develop a sense of ownership for cloud costs, detailed reporting, and in-depth analysis of its infrastructure’s efficiency. By partnering with PointFive, they gained access to comprehensive data and a powerful tool to visualize that data for improved internal reporting. The Analytics module allowed them to create customized dashboards and reports, providing an immediate understanding of accurate cloud costs and usage metrics for monthly reporting to the platform engineering team.
Through PointFive, they also found a partner that could provide their engineering team with an Opportunities engine that consistently delivers detailed and precise recommendations to optimize cloud resources and save on cloud costs. Engineers were empowered with actionable insights, including in-depth analyses, remediation steps, and the metrics necessary to implement changes effectively. This not only enabled them to eliminate waste and achieve substantial cost savings but also fostered a culture of ownership and proactive optimization within the engineering teams.
By unifying their cloud reporting and optimization efforts under a single platform, BHN successfully streamlined their cloud cost management and drove engineering accountability. The collaboration with PointFive allowed them to eliminate inefficiencies and reduce costs without compromising operational agility, underscoring the value of a unified approach to cloud cost optimization.
