The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has a large AWS estate managed by Nasstar.
CLIENT
Rail Delivery Group
INDUSTRY
Transport
SERVICE
Cloud
PARTNER
aws
The client
With existing plans that Nasstar had put in place for RDG due to expire, it was an ideal opportunity to review whether Amazon Web Services' (AWS) new Cost Saving Plans could replace or augment potential AWS cost optimisation benefits.
This case study can also be found over at Colibri Digital, part of The Nasstar Group.
The challenges
An Amazon Reserved Instance (RI) is a billing discount that allows users to save on their Amazon EC2 usage costs. RDG already had a Reserved Instance (RI) in place, but this was due to expire, and new solutions needed to be found. It was evident that a solution needed to be developed and agreed upon before the expiration to prevent any increase in costs, even for a short period.
The scope and type of cost savings that could be utilised were complex, so there had to be a beneficial outcome for the customer for them to realise a good return on investment. There was also the added complication of multiple third parties utilising the Nasstar-managed AWS estate, making future growth and utilisation difficult to predict.
Our goal
The outcome
By adopting a mix of AWS Reserved Instances and Cost Saving Plans, RDG achieved an estimated 30% savings compared to the previous year, delivering immediate financial benefits and enabling continued service delivery.
The hybrid approach allowed RDG to balance stability and adaptability, securing predictable costs for long-term workloads while maintaining the flexibility to adjust their AWS environment as needs evolve.
Nasstar provided RDG with a clear breakdown of predicted costs and savings across various payment options (full, partial, and no upfront), enabling more informed decision-making and budgeting.
The cost savings enabled RDG to reinvest in essential services, helping them maintain national operations during and beyond the pandemic.
