At everyoneINVESTED, it's all about one thing: helping banks and financial organizations to evolve their customers from savers to loyal investors. And to achieve that, they focus primarily on online banking. But of course, this brings its own set of challenges, especially in terms of IT. That's why we worked together with Flowfactor to find an optimal cost solution for their Azure environment.
Fri, 10 May 2024
From a small innovation team within the KBC Group to a full-fledged FinTech,
“We offer financial institutions an alternative way to persuade their savers to invest,” explains Geert Bernaerts, Finance Manager at everyoneINVESTED. “In a playful manner, we thus help financial advisors to create an appropriate investment profile, so that they can offer investments tailored to their clients.”
And that obviously comes with quite a few challenges.
"In order to offer our services outside the KBC Groep, we needed to run on separate IT infrastructure. And for that, we really needed a partner", explains Jeroen Van Lysebettens, IT architect at everyoneINVESTED. "Geert and I initially contacted De Cronos Groep. And they quickly pointed us to Arxus and Flowfactor."
Together with FlowFactor, one of our partners within The Cronos Group, we have sought a way to accommodate the rapid growth of everyoneINVESTED. “We have set up
But managing and maintaining an Azure environment usually takes quite a bit of effort. After a little while, their Azure costs started rising significantly. And when they started monitoring their consumption, they quickly noticed that they needed help. Our FinOps experts immediately dived into everyoneINVESTED's Azure costs. Together with our colleagues from Flowfactor, we looked at how to optimize their resources and consumption. But how exactly did we tackle that? Let's go over it together:
To get a clear understanding of their Azure resources and their consumption, we did a thorough Azure Cost Analysis. Each time, we look at several different factors:
1
Which virtual machines are they currently using? Are there cheaper alternatives? What about their storage capacity?
2
Which resources are they (not) using (anymore)? Which ones can we detach and delete? Is there room for automation?
3
Can we use reservations to reduce costs? Which subscription plan fits best?
After our analysis, we immediately started working on the optimizations. For instance, we purchased a couple of resource reservations to reduce their Azure costs. And then we even went one step further.
"To make sure everyoneINVESTED no longer needs to check their Azure usage manually, we implemented budgets, alerts and persona-based cost management views", says Ken Kenis, our FinOps expert. "Now they get a daily overview of their actual and forecasted costs, so they can quickly intervene when things go wrong.”
We also follow up really closely. "Every six months, we review everyoneINVESTED's Azure costs, together with Flowfactor", Ken continues. "That way no one gets any nasty surprises.”
“Since we sat down together to proactively monitor our Azure costs, satisfaction with Arxus has only increased,” says Geert. The longer we know each other, the better it goes." And the biggest plus for everyoneINVESTED? The infinite pool of experts within The Cronos Group.
“We receive a single invoice from the entity we deal with on a daily basis. But if we encounter a problem, we can call upon an entire network of specialists,” Geert continues. “And if we need advice, we can always turn to Arxus as well.”
With our Advise-service, we take care of the optimization and management process of your Azure environment, from A to Z. Ready to get the most out of it? Feel free to contact one of our specialists.
Many companies struggle with it: managing your expenses efficiently. Especially when it comes to your Azure costs. But it doesn't have to be complicated at all. Because with a few simple tips and tricks, you can optimize your Azure consumption like a professional. And we can teach you that. Ronald Verdult, our Cloud Solutions Architect, will dive into it with you.
With the best practices of the FinOps Framework, your organization will truly get the most out of Azure. Because to fully benefit from the cloud, a structured approach to cost optimization is extremely important. But what exactly is FinOps? And how does it help to keep your cloud costs under control? Ken Kenis, our expert in Cloud Financial Management, will tell you all about it.
In this episode of The Lighthouse, we're having a chat with York Van den Heuvel, Tribe Lead of our cloud architects. He tells you all about Azure Governance: What is it exactly? Why is it so important? And how do you get started with it?
