Savings Tracker

The Savings Tracker measures the real-world financial impact of your cost optimisation efforts. Every rightsizing action, waste elimination, commitment purchase, and configuration change contributes to a running total of realised savings that you can report to stakeholders with confidence.

Why Track Savings?

Cost optimisation is an ongoing practice, not a one-time project. Without tracking, it is impossible to know:

• Whether your optimisation efforts are actually delivering results
• How much budget you have reclaimed for reinvestment
• Which types of recommendations provide the most value
• Whether your cloud spending trajectory is improving over time

The Savings Tracker closes this loop by connecting recommendations to outcomes.

Accessing the Savings Tracker

Navigate to Cost Analysis > Financial Advisory > Savings Tracker to view your savings dashboard.

Dashboard Overview

Headline Metrics

The top of the Savings Tracker displays key figures:

Metric	Description
Total Realised Savings	Cumulative savings from all implemented recommendations
Monthly Savings Rate	Current monthly savings run rate
Recommendations Implemented	Count of optimisation actions completed
Pending Savings	Projected savings from recommendations not yet implemented
Savings Trend	Whether your monthly savings rate is increasing or decreasing

Savings Over Time Chart

A time-series chart showing monthly realised savings, helping you visualise the cumulative impact of your optimisation programme. The chart includes:

• Monthly savings bars -- Savings realised each month
• Cumulative savings line -- Running total over time
• Pending savings projection -- Projected additional savings if outstanding recommendations are implemented

Savings Categories

Guardian Pro tracks savings across multiple categories:

By Optimisation Type

Category	Examples	Typical Impact
Rightsizing	Instance downsizing, generation upgrades, gp2-to-gp3 migration	10-30% reduction on affected resources
Waste Elimination	Terminated idle instances, deleted unattached volumes, released unused EIPs	100% of the resource cost
Commitment Discounts	Savings Plans, Reserved Instances	20-72% reduction on committed usage
Configuration Changes	Storage class transitions, logging optimisation, data transfer reduction	Varies widely

By AWS Service

The Savings Tracker breaks down realised savings by AWS service, showing which services have yielded the most savings. This is useful for identifying where your optimisation efforts are most effective and where further opportunities may exist.

By Account

For multi-account environments, savings are tracked per account, allowing you to:

• Compare optimisation progress across teams or business units
• Identify accounts with significant untapped savings potential
• Report savings by cost centre or department

How Savings Are Calculated

Rightsizing Savings

When a rightsizing recommendation is implemented (e.g., downsizing from m5.2xlarge to m5.xlarge):

Monthly Savings = (Previous Instance Cost - New Instance Cost) x Running Hours per Month

Guardian Pro calculates this based on the actual on-demand or effective rate (accounting for any existing Savings Plans or RIs).

Waste Elimination Savings

When a wasted resource is removed:

Monthly Savings = Full monthly cost of the eliminated resource

This is straightforward -- the entire cost of the resource is saved.

Commitment Discount Savings

When a Savings Plan or RI is purchased:

Monthly Savings = (On-Demand Rate - Committed Rate) x Covered Usage Hours

Savings are calculated based on the difference between what you would have paid at on-demand rates and what you actually pay under the commitment.

Tracking Implementation

Automatic Tracking

When you implement a recommendation through Guardian Pro's Action Centre using automated remediation, the savings are tracked automatically. Guardian Pro records:

• The recommendation that was implemented
• The date of implementation
• The resource affected
• The calculated monthly savings

Manual Tracking

For recommendations implemented outside of Guardian Pro (e.g., through the AWS Console, CLI, or Infrastructure as Code), savings are tracked when:

• The next cost analysis run detects the change in spending
• The recommendation status is updated to "Implemented"

tip

Implement recommendations through Guardian Pro whenever possible to ensure accurate and immediate savings tracking. Changes made outside the platform may take a billing cycle to appear in the tracker.

Savings Reports

Monthly Savings Report

A monthly summary report is available showing:

• Total savings realised during the month
• Breakdown by category (rightsizing, waste, commitments)
• Top savings actions (the individual changes that saved the most)
• Cumulative savings to date
• Outstanding recommendations and their projected savings

Export Options

Export savings data for stakeholder reporting:

• CSV -- Raw savings data for custom analysis in spreadsheets
• PDF -- Formatted report suitable for management presentations

Setting Savings Goals

Guardian Pro helps you set and track savings goals:

1. Navigate to the Savings Tracker.
2. Set a monthly or quarterly savings target.
3. Track progress against the goal in the dashboard.
4. Receive alerts when you are on track, falling behind, or have exceeded your goal.

Goal-Setting Best Practices

• Start with achievable targets based on the pending recommendations available.
• Increase targets over time as you build optimisation momentum.
• Align savings goals with business objectives (e.g., "Reduce cloud spend by 15% this quarter").
• Share progress with stakeholders to maintain organisational support for optimisation efforts.

Pending Savings Pipeline

The Savings Tracker includes a pipeline view of recommendations that have not yet been implemented:

Field	Description
Recommendation	Description of the optimisation action
Estimated Monthly Savings	Projected savings if implemented
Risk Level	The impact level of implementing the change
Category	Type of optimisation (rightsizing, waste, etc.)
Age	How long the recommendation has been available
Affected Resources	Resources that would be changed

This pipeline helps you prioritise which recommendations to tackle next for maximum savings impact.

info

Pending savings are projections based on current pricing and usage. Actual savings may vary if usage patterns change between when the recommendation is generated and when it is implemented.

Savings Velocity

Savings velocity measures how quickly your organisation is implementing recommendations and realising savings. Guardian Pro tracks:

• Time to implement -- Average time from recommendation to action
• Implementation rate -- Percentage of recommendations that are acted upon
• Monthly savings acceleration -- Whether your savings rate is growing month over month

A healthy optimisation programme shows increasing savings velocity over time as teams build expertise and processes around cost governance.

Integration with Other Features

Feature	Integration
Cost Dashboard	Savings impact reflected in overall spending trends
Rightsizing	Rightsizing savings automatically tracked when implemented
Waste Detection	Waste elimination savings recorded on cleanup
Savings Plans	Commitment savings tracked from purchase date
Reserved Instances	RI savings tracked against on-demand baseline
Budgets	Savings help maintain budget compliance
Action Centre	Remediation actions linked to savings tracking

Negotiation Advisor

For organisations with significant AWS spend, Guardian Pro's Negotiation Advisor provides guidance on enterprise discount programmes:

Programme	Description	Typical Threshold
Enterprise Discount Programme (EDP)	Volume-based discounts negotiated directly with AWS	Significant annual AWS commitment
Private Pricing	Custom pricing for specific services based on usage volume	High usage of specific services

The Negotiation Advisor analyses your spending profile and indicates when you may qualify for enterprise-level discount programmes, with guidance on how to approach the negotiation.

note

Enterprise discount negotiations are conducted directly with your AWS account team. Guardian Pro provides the data and analysis to support your negotiation, but does not negotiate on your behalf.

Best Practices

Make Savings Visible

Share savings tracker results with engineering and leadership teams. Visibility creates accountability and motivation to continue optimising.

Celebrate Wins

Acknowledge teams and individuals who implement recommendations that deliver significant savings. Positive reinforcement drives sustained engagement with cost optimisation.

Reinvest Strategically

Savings from cost optimisation can be reinvested into:

• New features and product development
• Better monitoring and observability
• Security improvements
• Higher-availability infrastructure

Framing optimisation as "freeing up budget for better things" rather than "cutting costs" drives more enthusiastic participation.

Review Quarterly

Conduct a quarterly savings review to:

• Assess cumulative savings against goals
• Identify new areas of optimisation opportunity
• Adjust savings targets based on infrastructure changes
• Report ROI of your cost governance programme

Next Steps

• Cost Dashboard -- Review overall spending with savings context
• Rightsizing -- Explore recommendations to boost your savings pipeline
• Waste Detection -- Identify quick-win savings through cleanup
• Overview -- Return to the Cost Intelligence overview