Cost optimization
Optimization is a list,
not a percentage
A savings figure that cannot be traced to named resources is a negotiating position, not an analysis. Every finding Zephto reports resolves to something an engineer can open, with the evidence that flagged it and the risk of acting on it.
The short answer
What counts as a finding
Cloud cost optimization here means one thing: a list of named objects, each with a recommended change and a dollar figure grounded in what that object actually costs on your bill. Not a benchmark, not a percentage, not a projection of what a similar estate saved.
Findings are reported as theoretical and realistic. The realistic figure applies a stated realization rate reflecting workload risk and implementation effort — lowest on AI and data platform findings, highest on cleanup.
Three kinds of waste
They are not interchangeable
Cleanup
Orphaned disks and snapshots, unassociated public IPs, abandoned resource groups. Delete them and the money is gone for good. Low risk, high realization, and the smallest number on most bills.
Rightsizing and commitments
Oversized VMs and databases, missing reservations, savings plan coverage against coverable spend. Medium risk, and the largest absolute figure on an estate where AI is under about a fifth of spend.
Token, DBU and capacity waste
The kind that comes back every time a model ships or a prompt changes. Highest percentage waste rates we see, lowest realization rates we report, and the reason a second run matters more here than anywhere else.
Why the split matters. A single blended savings number hides which part of it needs a change ticket and which part needs an eval harness and an owner. Those go to different people and land on different timelines.
Method
The rules the numbers follow
What it does
- Ground every figure in billed cost
- Cap a service’s opportunity at its own spend
- Count an object once, however many checks flag it
- State the realization assumption on every line
- Show what was excluded and why
What it will not do
- Sum ceilings into a headline
- Claim a provider’s advisor figure without grounding it
- Report savings for resources that no longer exist
- Count the same saving on two sheets
- Take a percentage of what you save
Get the list for your estate
One subscription or workspace, the full check set, and a workbook at the end of it.