Multi-Cloud FinOps Transformation for Major Real Estate Operator
How CriticalMatrix established cloud cost governance across a property portfolio, delivering 22% cost reduction in the first quarter while enabling ongoing optimisation.
Key Results
- 22% reduction in cloud spend
- Cost allocation by property
- FinOps maturity roadmap
- Decommissioning program
The Challenge
Situation
A major commercial real estate operator with 50+ properties had accumulated cloud sprawl across Azure and AWS. Each property had been managed independently, resulting in no visibility into cost allocation or optimisation opportunities. Cloud costs were rising 30% annually.
Operational Constraints
- Decentralised property management
- Multiple cloud accounts per property
- Limited FinOps capability in-house
- Property managers resistant to change
What Was Breaking
Cloud costs were rising 30% annually with no correlation to business value. CFO could not allocate costs to individual properties for accurate P&L reporting. No tagging standards existed—only 12% of resources had any tags. Hundreds of orphaned resources remained running across accounts, burning budget without purpose.
Before & After Comparison
Before CriticalMatrix
Costs rising without business correlation
Minimal cost allocation visibility
Abandoned VMs, storage, and databases
No per-property visibility
After CriticalMatrix
Immediate savings realised
Comprehensive tagging governance
87% reduction in waste
Per-property cost centres
The Solution
Phase 1: Discovery & Quick Wins (Weeks 1-2)
Conducted comprehensive cloud inventory across all accounts. Identified orphaned resources for immediate decommissioning. Established tagging taxonomy aligned to property portfolio structure.
Phase 2: Governance Implementation (Weeks 3-4)
Deployed tagging governance policies across Azure and AWS. Implemented cost allocation by property enabling accurate P&L attribution. Established reserved instance and savings plan recommendations.
Phase 3: Continuous Optimisation (Weeks 5-6)
Delivered executive dashboards with property-level cost visibility. Established FinOps operating model with monthly review cadence. Created decommissioning runbook for ongoing waste elimination.
Tools & Technologies
Azure Cost Management
Unified cost visibility across Azure subscriptions with budget alerts and anomaly detection.
AWS Cost Explorer
Multi-account cost analysis with savings plan recommendations and usage forecasting.
Custom Dashboards
Executive-ready visualisations with property-level drill-down and trend analysis.
"For the first time, we can tell our board exactly what each property is spending on cloud infrastructure. The 22% savings in Q1 was just the beginning."
— Chief Financial Officer
Ready to Optimise Your Cloud Costs?
Let's discuss how CriticalMatrix can help you gain visibility and control over cloud spending.