For CFOs and finance Better gross margin from the same AWS bill.
Sherpa is an AI platform for AWS. For finance leaders, it puts a monthly dollar value on each saving, reports realised savings against recommended ones, and sizes Savings Plans commitments on your spend after the cleanup.
What percentage of our AWS spend is wasted?
28% — $9,840 a month.
| What | Count | Monthly cost | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oversized servers | 12 | $5,310 | resize |
| Servers idle nights and weekends | 8 | $3,224 | schedule |
| Unattached storage volumes | 19 | $1,240 | delete |
| Idle load balancers | 4 | $66 | delete |
What went up in the last 30 days?
Up $5,550 on the 30 days before.
| Service | Change |
|---|---|
| Amazon EC2 | +$3,410 |
| Data transfer | +$1,260 |
| Amazon RDS | +$880 |
How much should we commit to Savings Plans?
$18.40 an hour, 1 year, saves $6,120 a month.
| Plan | Commitment | Monthly saving |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Savings Plan | $14.20 an hour | $4,730 |
| Database Savings Plan | $4.20 an hour | $1,390 |
What have we saved so far?
Last month: $7,980 realised, with $9,840 still recommended.
| Month | Recommended | Realised |
|---|---|---|
| August | $9,840 | $7,980 |
| July | $8,200 | $5,110 |
Why does AWS spend hit our gross margin?
For a software company, AWS sits inside the cost of every sale. Each dollar spent on idle or oversized infrastructure comes straight out of gross margin and weakens the unit economics you report to the board.
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20–30%
what companies that manage cloud costs well cut from their bill.
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1 in 3
IT leaders say more than half their cloud spend is wasted.
Sources: McKinsey, 2023; VMware Private Cloud Outlook 2025.
What can finance report from Sherpa?
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A dollar value on each saving.
Each priced saving carries a monthly dollar figure, and most are tied to the named resource behind them, so finance can see where in the environment the money sits.
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Recommended against realised, each month.
Compare recommended savings with what your team actually realised, month by month; realised savings appear about 30 days after a fix is applied.
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Savings Plans sized after the cleanup.
Select the savings you plan to make, and Sherpa sizes the Savings Plans commitment on the spend that remains, not on today's bill.
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Commitments and renewals.
Model a private pricing agreement with AWS, and track AWS Marketplace agreements and the days left before each renewal, so finance can prepare for each negotiation.
What is 20–30% worth on our bill?
On a $100,000-a-month AWS bill, a 20–30% reduction is $20,000–$30,000 a month, or $240,000–$360,000 a year returned to gross margin, without a $155K FinOps hire (salary and benefits, estimate).
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The Sherpa platform
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Sherpa can be procured and billed through your existing AWS account.
Questions finance leaders ask us.
How do we track realised AWS savings?
Sherpa reports recommended and realised savings for each completed month, so finance can show what the cost optimization work actually returned. Realised savings appear about 30 days after your team acts on a finding. Sherpa is an AI platform for AWS.
How much should we commit to Savings Plans?
Sherpa sizes Compute and Database Savings Plans from your hourly spend, and can size the commitment on what you'll spend after the savings you plan to make. Sherpa doesn't purchase the plan; your team makes that decision.
Can we buy Sherpa through AWS Marketplace?
Yes. Sherpa is available in AWS Marketplace, so it can be procured and billed through your existing AWS account.
What does the FinOps Assessment cost?
A fixed fee set by your average monthly AWS spend: $2,500 for $5K–$25K a month, $5,000 for $25K–$100K, $10,000 for $100K–$250K, and custom pricing above that. The fee covers the assessment report and the readout presentation.
Do we need a FinOps team?
No. Sherpa gives the team you already have the findings, a dollar value on most cost findings, and a fix plan for each, so FinOps discipline doesn't depend on a dedicated hire.