close icon
Home Page
Products

Products

PAM logo
Privileged Access Management
PEM logo
Endpoint Privilege Management
PPA logo
Automation
Industries

Industries

school_line
Education
bank_line
Finance
government_line
Government and Defence
hospital_line
Healthcare
computer_line
IT Operations
settings_5_line
Industrial Control Systems
briefcase_line
Legal
store_2_line
Retail
Partners

Partners

Resellers and Distributors
Partner marketing support
Partner opportunity
Resources

Resources

tool_line
Free Tools
bookmark_line
Blog
file_search_line
Case Studies
usb_line
PAM Integrations
video_line
Videos
Webinars
paper_line
White Papers
book_2_line
Osirium University
news_line
Documentation
Company

Company

IDcard_line
About
news_line
News & Events
Team
Investor Hub
Software reviews gold medal
See the report
search_3_line
BOOK A DEMO
All posts
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Prev
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
Next
28
August 2019

Controlling AWS Costs with PPA

Andy Harris

Amazon Web Services Cost Management Headaches

Standing still is as good as going backwards in the fast-moving cybersecurity world

Their businesses want to ensure developers, designers, testers, … everyone has access to the tools, virtual machines, storage and other services as and when they need them. The beauty of elastic services such as AWS is that you can scale up and down your resource allocations as needed. In theory, that means you shouldn’t have to pay for any more resource than you actually need or use.

However, the reality isn’t always quite so clean. Test systems get started and execution takes a lot longer than originally thought. Engineers might spin up virtual machines and forget to shut them down. In general, every team has, at some point, had a bit of surprise when they’ve been challenged at the end of the month or quarter to explain the bill that the Finance team have just received from AWS.

Understanding the AWS Bill

At Osirium, several teams have access to AWS. Normally, the engineering team don’t usually pay too much attention to the AWS bill. The first our operations department, who are responsible for paying the bills, know about these costs is when the invoice turns up. Then they have to work out who ran which systems and ask the questions around do they still need them.

Giving the Operations team direct access to AWS management would be a non-starter. That could mean sharing valuable AWS account login information, but, even then, working out how to navigate the AWS reports and dashboards can be a complicated process. We needed a better way for the Operations team to easily verify bills before making payment.

PPA to the Rescue!

Therefore, our Privileged Process Automation (PPA – known internally as “Opus”) team created a simple task to read the state of our AWS bills and a forecast of the current months spend.

Of course, they are separating the operations department from the AWS API key. But crucially they are separated from the whole AWS interface. The Ops team get the information they need when they need it, and without interrupting the teams that use AWS.

AWS is just one example. As with many organisations, we also use Azure and other systems and we’ve extended the PPA task to also report on Azure usage.

This is a classic example of using PPA to automate complex operations using privileged technical processes to deliver information financial billing information while never exposing valuable AWS credentials. If this is similar to an issue that you’d like to solve — as always, please get in touch.

‍

Related Topics

Privileged Process Automation
Manager
Automation
all posts
Top
Home Page
cyber essentials certified badge
Industries
EducationFinanceGovernment and DefenceHealthcareIT OperationsIndustrial Control SystemsLegalRetail
Company
AboutTeamBoard of DirectorsInvestor HubJob Opportunities
Resources
Free ToolsBlogPAM IntegrationsVideosWebinarsWhitepapersDatasheetsDocumentationCase Studies
Support
Support PortalOsirium University
© 2023 OSIRIUM. All rights reserved.
AccessibilityPrivacy PolicyEULATerms of ServiceSitemap