Well-Architected review · No upfront cost
Security & Cost Optimisation Blueprint
A two-week AWS Well-Architected review of your estate, focused on the two pillars that pay for themselves: cost and security. We target 25%+ savings and fix critical issues while we're in there, not after the report lands.
Our guarantee: if we don't find at least 25% in potential savings, there's no fee.
- reviews completed
- 20+
- average savings found
- 30%
- upfront cost
- £0
Why it works
An audit that fixes things
Most cloud audits end with a PDF and a handshake. The Blueprint doesn't. We audit your AWS accounts against the Well-Architected Framework, then apply the cost-saving changes and remediate high-risk security findings during the engagement itself.
Misconfigured infrastructure is one of the leading causes of data breaches, and most AWS estates carry waste that nobody has had time to chase down. Two weeks of focused work usually sorts the worst of both.
- Complete infrastructure assessment by AWS-certified engineers
- Cost optimisation roadmap with tagging strategy and budget alerts, targeting 25%+ reduction
- Critical security issues fixed during the review, not just listed
- No upfront cost and no long-term commitment
What we look at
The levers that actually move the bill
Cost optimisation isn't one big switch. It's a set of changes, most of them operational rather than code, that compound. Here's the ground we cover.
Cost
- Rightsizing over-provisioned EC2, RDS and EBS using AWS Compute Optimizer and utilisation data
- Savings Plans and Reserved Instances modelled against your real usage, not a sales target
- Idle and orphaned resources: unattached EBS volumes, old snapshots, unused Elastic IPs and load balancers
- S3 storage-class tiering and lifecycle policies to move cold data off Standard
- Graviton and managed/serverless moves where they cut cost without a rewrite
- Cost Explorer analysis, a consistent tagging model, and budget alerts so spend stays visible after we leave
Security
- IAM review: over-permissive roles, unused access keys, missing MFA and root-account exposure
- Public exposure checks across S3, security groups and network ACLs
- Encryption at rest and in transit, and AWS KMS key hygiene
- Logging and guardrails: CloudTrail, AWS Config, GuardDuty and Trusted Advisor findings
- Account structure and isolation between production and non-production
How it runs
Two weeks, then the report
- Week 1
Discovery & analysis
- Full account audit and cost analysis
- Security vulnerability assessment
- Architecture review
- Initial findings report with quick wins
- Week 2
Implementation & optimisation
- Remediation of critical security issues
- Cost optimisation implementation
- Budget alerts and tagging setup
- Performance tuning
- Delivery
Final report & roadmap
- Full Well-Architected report
- Long-term optimisation roadmap
- Knowledge transfer session
- 30 days of support included
What we need from you
Light touch on your team
The Blueprint is designed to run without tying up your engineers. To get started we need:
- Read-only access to your AWS account (or a billing and architecture export if you prefer)
- A 30-minute kickoff call to understand what each workload does
- A point of contact for any change we want to apply during the engagement
Proof
Across 20+ reviews we've found an average of 30% in potential savings — and because of the guarantee, finding less than 25% means you pay nothing.
Acorn, a HealthTech platform building for the NHS, came to us cost-conscious and running on expensive EC2. We redesigned the architecture to move them off it while meeting NHS DSPT security standards.
Read the Acorn case studyFAQ
Questions we hear a lot
What if you don't find 25% in savings?
Then the review is free.
That's the deal on our Security & Cost Optimisation Blueprint: if we can't find at least 25% in potential cost reductions, you don't pay. We can offer that because 78% of companies overspend on AWS, and the causes are usually the same: no tagging discipline, no Reserved Instance strategy, instances sized for a launch day that never came.
In 20+ reviews so far, we've averaged 30% in savings found.
What do we need to bring to an AI Launchpad?
Three things:
- A problem worth solving. A process that eats hours, questions your data could answer, work that queues up. If you're not sure which one to pick, that's what the first week is for.
- Some of your data. Even a sample is fine. We build the prototype on your data, not a demo dataset, because that's the only way the result means anything.
- Someone who can say yes. A sponsor who'll watch the weekly demos and make the call at the end.
You don't need an AI strategy document. The Launchpad usually replaces one.
What does the AI Launchpad cost?
Typically £15,000–£25,000, fixed (approximate, we bill in GBP). Where you land in that range depends mostly on data readiness, meaning how much work it takes to get your data cleanly in front of the model. The exact figure is agreed in writing before we start, and it doesn't move after that.
We're currently offering our first three Launchpad clients roughly half the usual fee, in exchange for a named case study and a reference call.
The Security & Cost Optimisation Blueprint is priced differently: no upfront cost, and if we don't find at least 25% in potential savings, no fee at all.
We're not on AWS. Does that matter?
Not at all. The AI prototype runs on infrastructure we set up and manage. Your systems stay exactly where they are: on-prem, Microsoft, Google, or nothing more than spreadsheets and email.
We connect to your data through exports or simple integrations, and if the pilot goes to production, we run the infrastructure side. You never need to log into AWS or learn what any of it means. That's the part you're paying us for.
The only offer that requires AWS is the cost-saving Blueprint, for the obvious reason that it reviews an AWS bill.
How long do engagements take?
The Blueprint takes two weeks. The AI Launchpad takes six. Both are fixed-fee, priced before we start.
Blueprint: week one is the audit, covering costs, security and architecture, with an initial findings report. Week two we implement: critical fixes, budget alerts, tagging, tuning. You end with a full Well-Architected report and roadmap.
Launchpad: week one we scope the use case and look at your data. Weeks two to five we build, with a demo every week. Week six you get the working prototype, production costings and a route to live.
Both come with 30 days of support after delivery.
Do you require long-term contracts?
No. Every engagement is fixed-fee with a defined end date, and there's nothing to cancel afterwards.
Plenty of clients take the Blueprint report, implement it themselves, and come back months later with a new project. That suits us fine. We'd rather be invited back than locked in.
What makes you different from other AWS consultancies?
We only do AWS, and we put senior engineers on every engagement.
- The people you meet on the first call are the people who do the work, with no junior staff padding hours
- Fixed fees with named deliverables, not open-ended day rates
- We fix critical issues during a review rather than listing them in a PDF
- If we don't find 25% in savings on a Blueprint, you don't pay
Why should I trust your consultancy?
Fair question. Every consultancy says they're experts. Here's what you can check:
- We're an official AWS Partner, and our consultants hold AWS certifications with 10+ years of enterprise cloud work behind them
- Our case studies name the clients and the numbers: zero-downtime launches, NHS compliance sign-off, 30-second Minecraft deployments
- The Blueprint guarantee is in writing: no 25% savings found, no fee
- The first call is free, and the people on it are engineers
Ready for quick cost and security wins?
Book a free call and we'll tell you what a Blueprint would likely find in your estate.
Official AWS Partner
20+ Well-Architected reviews completed Fixed fees · no long-term contracts