
Supply chain management: Reducing cloud operating costs by 50 percent with FinOps
The project in brief
We have increased thescalability and reliability of the on-demand supply chain management of an international industrial company - through targeted process modernization, monitoring, automation and rightsizing. Our focus: reducing cloud operating costs, accelerating development processes, increasing operational efficiency:
Overall savings in cloud operating costs
Results in figures
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Reduce cloud operating costs by 50 percent:
Savings of approx. 400,000 euros per year.
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Quickly to the new release:
40 hours saved per week per release.
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Improved secrets management:
Daily waiting time reduced by 5 hours Value contribution: approx. EUR 47,000 saved per year.
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Reduction of monitoring costs
by more than 80 percent: from 300,000 euros to 60,000 euros per year.
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More transparency and control
by the customer thanks to the open source observability stack.
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Sustainable optimization:
Clear roadmap for further savings (including databases, non-prod environments).
The challenge: Costs due to oversizing and manual processes
The central challenge consisted of several interlinked problem areas. Firstly, the existing cloud environment caused extremely high costs due to time pressure and a lack of cloud expertise during the migration. The infrastructure was vastly oversized, resulting in ongoing expenditure in the upper six-figure range.
In addition, there were inefficient processes that significantly impaired the workflow of the development teams. Many processes, such as releases or secrets management, were carried out manually, which not only cost time but also created potential sources of error. There was also a lack of transparency within the complex microservice landscape. The standard monitoring via Azure Monitor proved to be expensive and cumbersome and did not provide sufficient insight into the system landscape, which made it difficult to monitor and control the systems efficiently.
Our solution

1. Automate and accelerate processes:
With GitHub Actions, we have automated error-prone manual work steps in the release pipeline. In Secrets Management, we have replaced the SOPS setup with the cloud-native External Secrets solution, reducing the time required per pipeline from 30-40 minutes to one minute.
Added value:
- Savings of approx. 1 person-week per release process
- Time saving of approx. 5 hours per day -> equivalent of approx. 47,000 € cost reduction per year
- Reduction of operational risks
2. Establish individual monitoring and observability
We replaced the existing Azure monitoring standard solution with a cost-efficient, customized open source observability stack (including Grafana Loki (log aggregation), Grafana Tempo (distributed tracing), VictoriaMetrics (metrics storage))
Added value:
- Reduction of observability costs by more than 80 percent: from €300,000 to approx. €60,000 per year
- Better acceptance by the 24/7 support teams -> higher productivity in operations
- Transparency across all microservices, individually tailored to the company architecture
3. Optimize resources (rightsizing)
With the open source observability tools, we were able to identify massively overprovisioned resources. By eliminating faulty lines of code in the scaling automation, adapting the scaling logic in Azure and closing redundant Azure VMs, monthly savings in the five-digit range were immediately realized.
Added value:
- 25,000 € savings per month through targeted rightsizing
- Infrastructure is based on actual requirements instead of theoretical worst-case scenarios
- Stable performance with significantly lower operating costs
How we proceeded
Our approach began with detailed analysis workshops in which we examined the existing platform together with the client, visualized the biggest pain points and prioritized them with the help of Miro boards and storyboards. We then carried out a comprehensive cost and process analysis. Using the Azure Cost Analyzer, we were able to precisely identify the largest cost blocks.
Based on this, we implemented the optimization measures step by step: We automated central processes, implemented efficient monitoring solutions and introduced rightsizing measures to adapt the infrastructure as required. At the same time, we worked closely with the client's development teams to transfer knowledge in a targeted manner, build up internal expertise and thus ensure the long-term and sustainable operability of the platform.
Technologies and services used
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Cloud: Microsoft Azure
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CI/CD & Automation: GitHub Actions
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External Secrets
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Observability & Monitoring: Grafana Loki
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Grafana Tempo
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VictoriaMetrics
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Workshops & Methods: Creative Space
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Story Boards
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Miro
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Cost Analyzer
What decision-makers learn
Ongoing review and monitoring are essential in view of constantly changing price models and requirements.
A fresh look can reveal unused optimization potential that is often overlooked internally.
Error-prone manual processes can be massively streamlined with suitable tools.
Standard solutions often reach their limits; customized concepts improve transparency and efficiency.
Results & outlook
Reduction from approx. 800,000 euros to approx. 400,000 euros per year.
Automated release processes save a full person-week per release; several hours of waiting time are eliminated each day for secrets management.
Reduction of observability expenditure by more than 80 percent.
The customer plans to further optimize costs by hosting its own databases and non-prod environments.

We will show you how cloud transparency and FinOps can make an impact in just a few weeks - and guide you through the implementation step by step.
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Reductionof the availability zones in the development environment
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Supply chain management: Reducing cloud operating costs by 50 percent with FinOpsTo the FinOps reference
We have made the supply chain management system for an international industrial company more scalable and robust through process modernization, improved monitoring, automation and rightsizing. Targeted optimization of the infrastructure reduced oversizing and unnecessary resources - the platform is more stable.
Supply chain management: Reducing cloud operating costs by 50 percent with FinOpsTo the FinOps referenceLoweringof the cloud operating costs
Fastto the new release
More transparencyand control
Why MaibornWolff?
As one of the most innovative IT service providers with a great passion for AI, we focus entirely on the project business and individual software development - without our own products. To stay at the forefront, we continuously invest in our team of digital technology engineers and develop digital solutions that are well thought-out, efficient and reduced to the essentials.
Our principle: simplicity instead of complexity. We only develop what is really needed - tailor-made, useful and reliable. Our results speak for themselves. With over 800 large-scale systems and more than 10,000 person-years of experience in high-end software engineering, we are one of the few who can reliably implement even the largest and most complex IT landscapes. Thanks to close partnerships with leading hyperscalers, our customers operate their solutions in today's most modern and powerful environments.
Less technology. Better Business.