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Executive Overview

What is AWS Lens?​

AWS Lens is CloudKeeper's flagship cloud cost intelligence platform that provides comprehensive visibility, analysis, and optimization of Amazon Web Services spending. Designed for organizations seeking to maximize their cloud investment ROI, AWS Lens transforms raw AWS billing data into actionable insights that drive cost efficiency and informed decision-making.

Business Value Proposition​

Real-Time Cost Visibility​

AWS Lens delivers instant visibility into cloud spending across your entire AWS infrastructure. Unlike native AWS tools, Lens provides:

  • Hourly cost granularity for immediate identification of cost spikes
  • Service-specific dashboards for deep-dive analysis into each AWS service
  • Multi-account consolidation for enterprise-wide cost visibility
  • Trend analysis that reveals spending patterns before they become problems

Quantified Savings Opportunities​

The platform's intelligent recommendation engine identifies concrete cost optimization opportunities with quantified monthly savings:

Example Recommendations (Demo Data):
- Leverage Different S3 Storage Classes         $33,045/month
- Reduce Data Transfer with CloudFront         $20,309/month
- Move to Lower Cost Instances                 $12,528/month
- Migrate from Redis to Valkey                  $6,445/month
- Delete Snapshots Older Than 90 Days           $3,751/month

These are not generic suggestions—they are specific, actionable recommendations based on actual usage patterns.

Multi-Dimensional Analysis​

AWS Lens enables cost analysis across multiple dimensions simultaneously:

  • By Service (EC2, S3, RDS, etc.)
  • By Account (for multi-account AWS Organizations)
  • By Region (us-east-1, eu-west-1, etc.)
  • By Tags (environment, team, project, cost center)
  • By Usage Type (on-demand, reserved, spot instances)
  • By Operating System (Linux, Windows, RHEL)

This flexibility allows different stakeholders—from finance teams to engineering teams—to analyze costs through their own lens.

Key Capabilities at a Glance​

1. Cost Management & Billing​

Billing Summary Main dashboard showing billing metrics, service-wise cost trends, and recommendations

  • Billing Summary Dashboard: Current month spend, forecasts, and daily averages
  • Billing Console: Detailed billing records with drill-down capabilities
  • Account-Wise Breakup: Cost allocation across AWS accounts
  • Invoice Management: Historical billing and invoice tracking

Business Impact: Finance teams gain instant access to cloud spending data without waiting for monthly AWS bills.

2. Service-Specific Intelligence​

Compute Dashboard Compute cost analysis with breakdowns by service, region, operating system, and pricing type

AWS Lens provides dedicated dashboards for major AWS services:

  • Compute (EC2, ECS, EKS, Lambda)
  • Storage (S3, EBS, Glacier)
  • Databases (RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, Redshift)
  • Networking (Data Transfer, CloudFront, VPC)
  • Analytics (Athena, EMR, Kinesis, OpenSearch)

Business Impact: Engineering teams can immediately identify which services are driving costs and why.

3. Cost Explorer & Analysis​

Cost Explorer Interactive cost exploration tool with multiple grouping options

  • Interactive Cost Explorer: AWS Cost Explorer alternative with enhanced features
  • Custom Date Ranges: Analyze any time period from days to years
  • Multiple Cost Types: Unblended, Amortized, DDE (Data Direct Exchange)
  • Saved Reports: Bookmark frequently-used analyses for quick access
  • Export Capabilities: Download data for external analysis

Business Impact: Analysts can create custom views without waiting for IT support or AWS support tickets.

4. Reservation & Savings Plan Intelligence​

  • RI/SP Summary: Portfolio view of all Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
  • Utilization Tracking: Monitor RI/SP usage to ensure investment ROI
  • Coverage Analysis: Identify opportunities for additional reservations
  • Expiration Alerts: Never miss renewal deadlines

Business Impact: Maximize savings from AWS commitment discounts (up to 72% for 3-year RIs).

5. Cost Optimization Engine​

Recommendations Actionable cost optimization recommendations with quantified monthly savings

  • Automated Recommendations: AI-driven identification of cost reduction opportunities
  • Savings Quantification: Each recommendation includes monthly savings estimate
  • Priority Ranking: Focus on high-impact optimizations first
  • Implementation Guidance: Step-by-step instructions for each recommendation

Business Impact: Continuous cost reduction without manual analysis overhead.

6. Reporting & Analytics​

  • Scheduled Reports: Automated delivery of cost reports to stakeholders
  • Custom Dashboards: Build views tailored to your organization's needs
  • Anomaly Detection: Automatic alerts for unusual spending patterns
  • Budget Tracking: Monitor actual spend against budgets

Business Impact: Proactive cost management prevents budget overruns.

Who Benefits from AWS Lens?​

For Executives & Finance Leadership​

  • Bottom Line: Visibility into cloud spending as a percentage of revenue
  • Forecasting: Accurate monthly and quarterly cloud cost projections
  • ROI Analysis: Measure return on cloud investment
  • Vendor Management: Data for AWS contract negotiations

For FinOps & Cloud Cost Management Teams​

  • Daily Operations: Real-time monitoring and analysis tools
  • Optimization: Systematic identification of cost reduction opportunities
  • Chargeback/Showback: Accurate cost allocation to business units
  • Governance: Enforce tagging policies and spending controls

For Engineering & DevOps Teams​

  • Service Costs: Understand the cost impact of architectural decisions
  • Optimization: Right-size resources based on actual usage
  • Development: Track costs by environment (dev, staging, production)
  • CI/CD Integration: Embed cost awareness into deployment pipelines

For Enterprise Architects​

  • TCO Analysis: Compare costs across different architectural patterns
  • Migration Planning: Model costs before and after cloud migrations
  • Multi-Cloud Strategy: Benchmark AWS costs against other providers
  • Capacity Planning: Forecast infrastructure costs for growth

Business Outcomes​

Organizations using AWS Lens typically achieve:

Cost Reduction​

  • 15-30% reduction in AWS spending within first 6 months
  • Immediate savings from implemented recommendations
  • Ongoing optimization through continuous monitoring

Operational Efficiency​

  • 80% reduction in time spent on cost analysis
  • Automated reporting replaces manual spreadsheet work
  • Proactive alerts prevent reactive fire-fighting

Strategic Insights​

  • Data-driven decisions about cloud architecture
  • Accurate forecasting for budgeting and planning
  • Business unit accountability through cost allocation

Governance & Compliance​

  • Tag enforcement ensures proper cost allocation
  • Budget controls prevent overspending
  • Audit trails for compliance and internal controls

Deployment Models​

AWS Lens is available in multiple deployment options:

  1. SaaS (Multi-Tenant): CloudKeeper-hosted, rapid deployment
  2. Private SaaS (Dedicated): Isolated environment in CloudKeeper infrastructure
  3. On-Premise: Deployed in customer's own infrastructure

All models provide the same feature set with different security and compliance profiles.

Getting Started​

Immediate Actions​

  1. Connect AWS Accounts: Simple setup using AWS IAM roles (read-only access)
  2. Configure Tagging: Ensure resources are properly tagged for cost allocation
  3. Set Budgets: Establish spending thresholds and alert recipients
  4. Review Recommendations: Start with quick wins for immediate savings

30-Day Plan​

Week 1: Establish baseline understanding of current spending Week 2: Implement high-impact recommendations (>$5K/month savings) Week 3: Configure custom dashboards for stakeholder reporting Week 4: Set up automated reports and budget monitoring

90-Day Vision​

  • Cost Reduction: Achieve 15%+ reduction in AWS spending
  • Visibility: All stakeholders have access to relevant cost data
  • Governance: Tagging policies enforced, chargeback operational
  • Optimization: Continuous improvement process established

Integration Ecosystem​

AWS Lens integrates with:

  • AWS Organizations: Automatic account discovery
  • AWS Cost & Usage Reports: Native data source
  • JIRA/ServiceNow: Ticketing for recommendation implementation
  • Slack/Teams: Real-time alerts and notifications
  • Data Warehouses: Export data for business intelligence tools
  • CI/CD Pipelines: Cost gates in deployment workflows

Security & Compliance​

  • Read-Only Access: AWS Lens never has write permissions to your AWS environment
  • Data Encryption: All data encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256)
  • SOC 2 Type II: Annual third-party security audits
  • GDPR Compliant: Data residency and privacy controls
  • Role-Based Access: Granular permissions for user access control

Competitive Advantages​

vs. AWS Native Tools​

FeatureAWS LensAWS Cost ExplorerAWS Budgets
Hourly Granularity✅❌ (Daily only)❌
Service-Specific Dashboards✅❌❌
Quantified Recommendations✅Limited❌
Custom Cost Allocation✅Limited❌
Multi-Account Views✅Requires setupLimited
Anomaly Detection✅Basic❌

vs. Third-Party Tools​

  • Faster Setup: Connect AWS accounts in minutes, not days
  • Deeper Insights: Service-specific expertise embedded in dashboards
  • Better Recommendations: AI-driven with continuous learning
  • Lower Cost: More affordable than enterprise alternatives
  • Local Support: CloudKeeper's AWS expertise included

Success Stories​

"AWS Lens helped us reduce our AWS spending by 28% in the first quarter. The recommendations were specific and actionable—not generic advice we already knew."

— VP of Engineering, Global SaaS Company

"The hourly granularity was a game-changer. We can now identify cost spikes within minutes, not days after the fact."

— Director of Cloud Operations, Financial Services Firm

"Chargeback to business units was a nightmare before AWS Lens. Now we have automated reports that everyone trusts."

— FinOps Manager, Enterprise Retail

Next Steps​

For Executives​

For Technical Teams​

For FinOps Teams​

Contact & Support​

Product Website: https://www.cloudkeeper.com/aws-lens Demo Environment: https://demo-lens.cloudkeeper.com Documentation: https://docs.cloudkeeper.com Support Email: support@cloudkeeper.com

This document provides a high-level executive overview of AWS Lens. For technical details, architecture, and implementation guidance, please refer to the detailed documentation sections.