What is an AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment?

A Kickdrum AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) is a complimentary evaluation of cloud and on-premises infrastructure that identifies cost reduction opportunities across compute, storage, and software licensing while maintaining performance, scalability, and resilience.

What types of cost savings can organizations uncover through an OLA?

Organizations typically uncover savings through rightsizing overprovisioned infrastructure, eliminating underutilized resources, optimizing SQL Server and Windows licensing, and improving workload placement across cloud and hybrid environments.

How does an OLA support private equity value creation initiatives?

For PE-backed companies, OLAs identify cloud and licensing inefficiencies that improve EBITDA margins and operational efficiency. These insights often feed into broader value creation plans, modernization initiatives, and post-close operational improvements.

What does it take to start an OLA?

Starting an OLA requires a brief discovery session, access to AWS environment data, and workload and licensing information. Kickdrum then performs analysis over a 2–4 week period and delivers a detailed optimization report.

Why do organizations choose Kickdrum over traditional cloud optimization consultancies?

Organizations choose Kickdrum because assessments are led by senior cloud architects who evaluate infrastructure decisions through the lens of scalability, engineering velocity, resilience, and long-term value creation, not just cost reduction.

OPTIMIZATION & LICENSING ASSESSMENT

High-impact cloud cost clarity, at no cost to you

Kickdrum's complimentary AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment helps organizations implement AWS cost reduction strategies and optimize licensing spend without compromising performance or scale.

AWS Partner badge for Advanced Tier Services with list of services including Solution Provider, Select Tier Training, and Migration Services Competency.

WHAT TO EXPECT

If you're managing growing infrastructure costs across cloud or on-premises, Kickdrum can help. Our Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) evaluates how your resources are actually used, whether you're paying more than you need to, and if a migration would be worthwhile.

Delivered at no cost to you, this AWS-backed assessment provides a clear picture of your current environment and identifies cost-saving opportunities through rightsizing, licensing efficiency, and smarter workload placement.

Whether you're all-in on the cloud or running hybrid systems, we’ll show you how to optimize, and then guide you through your best path forward.

If you…

You should get…

spend >$15k/mo on cloud infrastructure

a complimentary, detailed cost optimization roadmap

a plan to reduce licensing overhead and avoid overprovisioning

run licensed software like SQL Server or Windows

a data-backed model showing savings potential and licensing flexibility

are evaluating or planning cloud migration

an expert-guided look at how your current setup compares

want to explore if AWS can reduce cost of ownership

HOW IT WORKS

The OLA process is fast, focused, and fully guided by our senior cloud architects.

1. Discovery & Assessment - We collect data on compute, storage, licensing, and workload dependencies

2. Analysis & Modeling - Our experts model optimized deployment scenarios based on your actual resource usage and entitlements.

3. Recommendations & Roadmap - We deliver a tailored optimization report with actionable recommendations to reduce cost, improve efficiency, and align infrastructure with business goals.

WHAT YOU LEARN

Once the OLA is complete, you’ll have an actionable plan for:

Rightsized Resources: Identify the most efficient compute and storage mix

Licensing Savings: Reduce waste and explore flexible licensing paths
Migration Readiness: Gain a clear view of whether moving to AWS could unlock additional savings
Cost Efficiency: Improve license utilization by up to 60% and reduce infrastructure bloat

This assessment is complimentary and obligation-free. We’ll help you find savings and efficiency, then you decide what’s next.

Request an estimate

Frequently Asked Questions

A Kickdrum AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) is a complimentary data-driven evaluation of cloud and on-premises infrastructure that identifies opportunities to reduce infrastructure and software licensing costs. As a certified AWS partner, Kickdrum’s OLA uncovers inefficiencies and produces a roadmap for lowering cloud and on-prem costs without compromising scalability, resilience, or performance.
An OLA commonly identifies savings through rightsizing overprovisioned infrastructure, reducing underutilized compute and storage resources, optimizing SQL Server and Windows licensing, and improving workload placement across cloud and hybrid environments. Organizations often uncover both immediate infrastructure savings and longer-term operating margin improvements tied to modernization and more efficient resource governance.
For PE-backed businesses, infrastructure inefficiency is often a hidden EBITDA opportunity. Kickdrum’s OLA helps operating teams identify cloud waste and modernization opportunities that improve margins while strengthening operational resilience. These findings frequently inform broader post-close initiatives, including due diligence and engineering optimization programs specifically tied to the investment thesis.

All it takes to start a Kickdrum OLA is a quick initial meeting to understand your environment, business goals, products, and read-only access to your AWS account. Kickdrum will run a tool-based discovery to collect resource consumption over 2-4 weeks. We will then review the findings and create a data-driven report to explain each savings opportunity found.
Organizations choose Kickdrum because our assessments are led by senior cloud architects and operators who evaluate infrastructure decisions through the lens of scalability, engineering velocity, resilience, and value creation. The result is a modernization and optimization roadmap designed to support both immediate savings and long-term business performance.