Global Media Company. Twenty five percent off the AWS bill.

A global media company renegotiated its AWS agreement by sequencing three levers: an EDP commit sized on real forecasts, Savings Plans coverage, and Reserved Instance hygiene. The combination saved roughly 25 percent.

Why did the media company renegotiate its AWS agreement?

The company renegotiated because its Enterprise Discount Program renewal proposed a commit built on AWS growth assumptions while the company's own forecast had flattened. Streaming and rendering workloads were maturing, and optimization work was already shrinking the baseline.

Signing the proposed commit would have locked three years of spend to a curve the business no longer believed.

• Trigger: an EDP renewal commit far above the internal forecast.
• Risk: shortfall exposure if usage missed the committed curve.
• Opportunity: a quarter of the bill was addressable before negotiation even started.

Which levers produced the 25 percent saving?

Three levers, sequenced deliberately: usage optimization first, then coverage instruments, then the commit negotiation on the corrected baseline.

Why does the sequence matter so much?

Because each lever changes the input to the next. Optimization shrinks the baseline, coverage cuts the rate on what remains, and only then does the commit negotiation price the estate as it really is. Run in reverse, the discount cements the waste.

What did Reserved Instance hygiene actually find?

Expired and orphaned commitments. Reserved Instances bought for retired workloads were still billing, and instance family drift had broken the match between reservations and running compute.

How was the EDP commit negotiated?

The commit was negotiated from the company's own forecast, presented with the optimization work as evidence that the lower number was deliberate, not distressed. The discussion moved from discount percentage to commit truthfulness.

1. Build the internal usage forecast independent of the AWS account team's model.
2. Complete RI and Savings Plans cleanup so the run rate reflects reality.
3. Open the negotiation with the optimized baseline, not the historic bill.
4. Trade commit term and growth assumptions against rate, in writing.
5. Keep shortfall mechanics and renewal triggers explicit in the agreement.

Did the lower commit cost discount percentage?

Slightly, and it did not matter. The effective spend, which is the only number the CFO sees, came out roughly 25 percent lower. A deeper discount on the inflated commit would have cost more in absolute dollars.

What was the commercial outcome for the media company?

The renegotiated agreement cut effective AWS spend roughly 25 percent: a right sized EDP commit, restored coverage discipline, and a reservation portfolio that matched the running estate.

• Saving: roughly 25 percent off effective spend at signature.
• Risk removed: no shortfall exposure against an unrealistic growth curve.
• Forward posture: quarterly coverage reviews so waste never refunds the next commit.

Where the common advice on AWS EDP negotiation is wrong

The standard advice chases the discount percentage: commit bigger, get a deeper tier, celebrate the headline number. We disagree. In roughly 20 to 30 AWS negotiations Morten Andersen supported in 2024 to 2025, the estates that maximized the discount tier on an unoptimized baseline paid more in absolute dollars than estates that committed less on a clean one, in nearly every comparison we ran. The discount is a percentage of whatever you promise to spend. The buyer side move is to make the promise truthful first: clean the reservations, restore coverage, rebuild the forecast, and only then let anyone talk about tiers.

What the engagement data shows

Three cuts of our advisory engagement file frame the size of the opportunity.

What to do next

Six moves turn this case into a smaller number on your own AWS agreement.

A sequence you can run this quarter

1. Audit the Reserved Instance portfolio in Cost Explorer for expired and orphaned commitments.
2. Restore Savings Plans coverage on steady state compute.
3. Build a usage forecast independent of the AWS account team's model.
4. Reprice the EDP commit against the optimized baseline.
5. Negotiate shortfall mechanics and growth assumptions explicitly.
6. Stand up quarterly coverage reviews so the next renewal starts clean.

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AWS Support plan negotiation. The percent rate decision inside the EDP

AWS Support is a percent of your EDP burn, not a fixed fee. Read it free.

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Frequently asked questions

How did the media company save 25 percent on AWS?

By sequencing three levers: Reserved Instance hygiene, Savings Plans coverage, then an EDP commit negotiated on the optimized baseline rather than the historic bill.

Why not just negotiate a deeper EDP discount?

Because the discount is a percentage of the commit. A deeper tier on an inflated commit costs more in absolute dollars than a fair rate on a truthful number.

What order should AWS cost levers run in?

Optimize usage first, restore coverage second, negotiate the commit last. Each lever changes the input to the next, and reversing the order cements the waste.

What is the biggest hidden cost in AWS enterprise agreements?

Commit inflation. First proposals in our 2024 to 2025 file anchored commits 20 to 40 percent above the customer's own credible usage forecast.

Does optimizing before renewal weaken your negotiating position?

No, it strengthens it. A documented optimization program shows the lower commit is deliberate, which moves the discussion from discounts to truthful sizing.