AWS Database Blog
Dynata’s journey to lower TCO and faster modernization with AWS Database Savings Plans
In this post, we show how Dynata simplified database cost optimization and accelerated modernization to AWS Graviton processors by adopting Database Savings Plans. Rather than managing Reserved Instances across multiple database services, Dynata consolidated their cost commitment into a single, flexible pricing model. This reduced operational overhead by 70%, extended cost coverage to Amazon Aurora serverless, and lowered total cost of ownership as their infrastructure evolved.
Dynata is the world’s largest first-party data company, delivering precise, reliable insights that help businesses to make informed decisions at scale. Their platform empowers organizations to activate the right audiences, and measure impact with confidence through industry-leading data accuracy, commitment to continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
The challenge
When Dynata’s database workloads grew, managing Reserved Instances across multiple services and database engines became operationally complex. The team needed a way to:
- Modernize to the latest generation instances.
- Reduce the operational overhead of managing individual reservations.
- Extend cost savings to newer service models like Amazon Aurora serverless.
- Maintain predictable costs while their infrastructure evolved.
The solution: AWS Database Savings Plans
Dynata adopted Database Savings Plans, a flexible pricing model. It reduces your database costs by up to 35% when you commit to a consistent amount of usage over a 1-year term. Database Savings Plans automatically apply to eligible serverless and provisioned instance usage regardless of engine, instance family, size, deployment option, or AWS Region, with no upfront payment.
Results
By adopting Database Savings Plans, Dynata achieved three measurable outcomes across modernization, operations, and cost.
Accelerated modernization
Database Savings Plans gave Dynata the freedom to adopt the latest AWS Graviton processors. Dynata transitioned from 5th and 6th generation instances to the latest 7th and 8th generation Graviton processors across Amazon Aurora, Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), and Amazon ElastiCache. The flexibility of Database Savings Plans, combined with its broad applicability across data infrastructure services, helped Dynata keep billed hours under control while improving operational costs.
Simplified operations
Database Savings Plans streamline capacity reservations across Amazon RDS, Amazon OpenSearch Service, Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility), Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon ElastiCache in a single order. This reduced procurement time by 70%. A key operational improvement was the inclusion of Amazon Aurora serverless coverage, a service model that had no equivalent reservation option before. With this coverage, Dynata adopted serverless database architectures while maintaining cost optimization.
Lower total cost of ownership
By consolidating discounts into a single pool that applies broadly across their data infrastructure, Dynata achieved measurable cost reductions. Costs for Amazon OpenSearch Service and Amazon ElastiCache declined after they purchased Database Savings Plans. The large discount pool covering multiple data infrastructure services helped reduce overall operating costs, resulting in fewer billed hours than before adopting Database Savings Plans. With the plan’s flexibility, Dynata can make larger commitments, so their savings grow as they modernize.
Conclusion
By adopting Database Savings Plans, Dynata accelerated their migration from 5th and 6th generation instances to 7th and 8th generation Graviton processors across Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS, and Amazon ElastiCache. They did this without the financial friction of managing traditional Reserved Instances. Operationally, the team reduced the time spent on capacity reservation management and gained cost coverage for Amazon Aurora serverless, a service model that had no equivalent Reserved Instance option before. The result is a measurable reduction in billed hours and improved total cost of ownership, with savings that scale alongside their modernization efforts rather than working against them.
To learn more about AWS Database Savings Plans, visit the AWS Database Savings Plans page.