Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Building cost-optimized multi-tenant SaaS architectures (ARC311)

Summary

Todd Golding, a solutions architect with 8 years of experience in SaaS at AWS, discusses cost optimization in multi-tenant SaaS environments.
Cost is a primary motivator for moving to SaaS, aiming for economies of scale and solving cost-related problems.
The session covers architectural patterns, strategies, and a mental model for cost optimization beyond infrastructure bills.
Cost optimization includes supporting efficient business growth, operational efficiency, and understanding tenant workloads.
The talk emphasizes the importance of aligning tenant activity with consumption and the need for operational tools and metrics.
Strategies for cost optimization include using pooled and siloed resources, leveraging serverless technologies, and implementing tier-based throttling.
The importance of measuring tenant-level consumption to understand cost per tenant and the overall cost profile of the business is highlighted.
The session concludes with a call to measure the effectiveness of cost optimization strategies and a list of related sessions at re:Invent.

Cost optimization in SaaS is not just about reducing the AWS bill but also about aligning costs with business growth and operational efficiency.
Multi-tenant SaaS architectures should be designed to scale efficiently, with a focus on both infrastructure and operations.
Serverless technologies like AWS Lambda and Amazon Aurora Serverless are recommended for their ability to closely align costs with actual consumption.
Tier-based throttling and reserved concurrency are effective strategies for managing tenant consumption and ensuring fair resource allocation.
Measuring tenant-level consumption is crucial for understanding the cost implications of different tenant behaviors and for making informed decisions about pricing and resource allocation.
Operational efficiency can be significantly improved by investing in tools and metrics that provide visibility into tenant activity and system performance.
The session underscores the importance of a holistic approach to cost optimization that includes infrastructure, operations, and a deep understanding of tenant workloads and behaviors.