Dev Interrupted

The Rise of Cloud Costs, and How to Optimize Them | Plaid’s Mark Robinson

Jul 16, 2024

Plaid's Mark Robinson shares how he saved 25% in cloud costs, stressing the need to understand bills and optimize resources. Topics cover tagging resources, network and storage cost optimization, organizational buy-in, and benefits of cost optimization. Challenges in cost savings, automation for efficient software deployment, and responsible cost assignment are also discussed.

24:58

Episode guests

Mark Robinson

Ben Lloyd Pearson

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Understanding and analyzing cloud bills can reveal overspending areas for significant cost savings.

Efficient software deployment, monitoring, and automation are crucial for preventing costly errors and improving operational efficiency.

Deep dives

Optimizing Cloud Costs to Save Money

Optimizing cloud costs is essential as cloud computing expenses can escalate rapidly without proper management. Cloud services, like AWS, offer scalability without immediate cost constraints, leading to hidden expenses such as network fees and complex billing structures. By analyzing usage patterns and configuring options accurately, substantial savings can be achieved.

Intro

4min

Optimizing Cloud Costs and Overcoming Challenges

12min

Efficient Software Deployment and Automation for Streamlined Operations

2min

Challenges in Cost Optimization Efforts

4min

Optimizing Cloud Costs and Responsible Cost Assignment

3min

“If you're not careful, cloud computing can lose more money faster than any invention in history” - Mark Robinson, Infrastructure Engineer at Plaid

This week, guest host Ben Lloyd Pearson sits down with Plaid’s Mark Robinson to learn how he helped Plaid save 25% in costs by optimizing existing resources and eliminating waste in cloud computing.

Mark explains the importance of understanding your cloud bill, identifying areas of overspend, and implementing changes that lead to significant savings. From the basics of tagging resources to the intricacies of optimizing network and storage costs, Mark offers practical tips that can help you uncover countless optimization opportunities.

Tune in to learn about the rewards of improving cloud cost efficiency, the role of organizational buy-in, and the benefits of making cost optimization a company-wide value.

Episode Highlights:

00:56 How did cloud computing get so expensive?
02:34 Digging into what your costs actually are
04:55 How can you account for the various services you use?
07:35 Where are organizations going to get the most value out of?
12:26 Cloud costs relation to better code quality
16:08 Blockers in organizations to cost savings
19:32 Getting buy-in from leadership on cutting cloud costs

Show Notes: