Containers are the foundation of today’s hyper-agile DevOps landscape. Developers can enjoy the reliability of a single environment to run code, with no unexpected chops or changes between testing and production. Segmented applications benefit from faster and more efficient delivery, as each functionality evolves via its own isolated lifecycle. As powerful of a foundation that containerization offers, however, a major thorn in the side of its implementation is massive cloud bloat. 

We’re now proud to share how we implemented an automated Kubernetes optimization solution, which helped a major FinTech firm drastically elevate their approach to Cloud Financial Management. 

Even Google Recognizes Kubernetes Can Be Complicated

Kubernetes (K8s) is one of the most popular platforms for managing containerized applications. This is achieved via APIs that simply plug in and play, allowing for each app’s containers to be deployed, scaled and managed. 

At the core of containerization is the cluster. This is based upon a set of machines (nodes) that execute the in-development software. By abstracting this computing power away from individual machines, containers can freely draw from the cluster’s shared pool of CPU and memory resources. This allows for applications to scale based on their real-time demands, helping modern DevOps guarantee always-on availability.

Despite the benefits presented by containerization, the process of managing resources on Kubernetes can be incredibly costly and time consuming. Even with enough knowledge, the many moving parts – alongside a lack of graphical user interface  – can present a major challenge to set up and configuration. As the solution’s inventor and most prominent advocate, Google has previously issued a statement on the widespread difficulties faced by enterprises. Within this, they acknowledge that they’ve seen many companies enthusiastically embrace Kubernetes before running “headlong into difficulty”.. The complexity of its Resource Management causes operational overhead and critical problems – from CPU throttling to over-provisioning. 

As FinOps continues to evolve and push for increasingly real-time decision making, it’s vital that the tools on hand support lean and optimized cloud spending. The sheer complexity of Kubernetes architecture sees DevOps teams consistently waste significant time and energy on never-ending manual configurations. One major FinTech company was faced with the daunting price tag of $816,000 per annum on K8s resource management. Sick of the constant demands of container resource fine-tuning, they turned to us for a solution. 

Innovative FinOps Technology Ensured That Resource Requests and Limits Were Fully Optimized

Led by a team of seasoned engineers and architects, we knew that this firm would benefit immensely from autonomous and elastic Kubernetes pod resizing. The FinOps solution that we chose sits adjacent to the K8s resource requests being made. With rapid installation and continued support, this cutting-edge approach to K8s visibility lent the FinTechOps team real-time insights into the organization’s wider K8s cost structure, alongside resource consumption anomalies and alerts. With an on-the-ground view of what resources each system actually needs, the solution’s autonomous pod rightsizing was able to kick in. These in-place updates ensured that every request – and the limits the firm paid for – were fully optimized and streamlined to our client’s actual usage.

Breakdown: GlobalDots’ FinOps Solutions 

The difference was instant and phenomenal: whereas resource management was previously a significant revenue drain, the annual cost post-optimization now sits at $72,000. The number of nodes actively requiring management has fallen just as sharply – whereas they once required 80 separate nodes, their systems now run off just 20. Additionally, the average rate of savings across all clusters is now projected to be at a staggering 91%.

This success story is only one of thousands that we’re deeply proud of. GlobalDots’ multi-vendor approach has allowed leaders such as SentinelOne, Gong, and Playtika, to optimize their cloud costs by introducing cutting-edge solutions. To discuss how your cloud architecture can benefit from GlobalDots‘ innovation hunting skills, get in touch today.