Quick Health Check
*1–2 days
- High-level review of core AWS services
- Top risks and quick wins
- 1-hour playback and summary
*Time required on average.
See Your Cloud Through a Clear Lens
Independent AWS architecture reviews that cut costs, reduce risk and improve resilience.
About CloudLens
At CloudLens, we specialise in helping organisations get the most out of AWS. Whether you're scaling fast, wrestling with rising bills or preparing for security and compliance checks, an independent review ensures your platform is resilient, secure and cost-effective.
Our team is AWS Certified with years of hands-on experience across both public and private sectors. We deliver clear, prioritised recommendations and a pragmatic remediation plan you can drop straight into Jira, Azure DevOps or any other task tracking software.
Common Issues We Find
In 90% of reviews, we discover significant opportunities for improvement. Here are some of the most frequent findings that could be costing you money and increasing risk.
Overprovisioned EC2 Instances
Instances running at less than 20% CPU utilisation, often using previous generation instance types.
Typical savings: 30-50% of EC2 costs
Missing Backup Strategies
Critical databases and storage without automated backups or tested disaster recovery procedures.
Risk level: Critical
Publicly Exposed Resources
S3 buckets, databases, or EC2 instances with overly permissive security groups or public access.
Security impact: Severe
Unused Resources
Unattached EBS volumes, unused Elastic IPs, and idle load balancers accumulating charges.
Quick win: £500-2000/month
No Reserved Capacity
Running production workloads on-demand without leveraging Savings Plans or Reserved Instances.
Potential savings: 40-70%
Missing CloudWatch Alarms
No monitoring for critical metrics like high CPU, disk usage, or failed deployments.
Downtime prevention: Priceless
Packages
Three simple options to suit where you are on your cloud journey. Fixed-scope, fixed-price, no surprises.
Most popular
Deep Dive Review
*1–2 weeks
- Full AWS Well-Architected assessment
- Security, reliability, cost and ops
- Detailed report and prioritised backlog
- Playback workshop with stakeholders
*Time required on average.
Ongoing Advisory
Monthly
- Regular security and cost reviews
- Architecture clinics and design sign-off
- Slack/Teams access to a lead architect
Our Review Process
Transparent, structured and designed to minimise disruption to your team. Here's exactly what happens during a Deep Dive Review.
Day 1: Discovery
Initial meeting to understand your architecture, pain points and objectives. We set up read-only access to your AWS accounts.
1
Days 2-3: Automated Scanning
Deploy AWS Well-Architected tools and custom scripts to gather comprehensive data about your infrastructure.
2
Days 4-5: Manual Deep Dive
Expert review of architecture patterns, security configurations, cost allocation and operational procedures.
3
Days 6-7: Analysis and Prioritisation
Consolidate findings, calculate potential savings, assess risk levels and create prioritised remediation roadmap.
4
Day 8: Report Generation
Produce comprehensive report with executive summary, detailed findings and actionable recommendations.
5
Day 9-10: Stakeholder Presentation
Workshop with your team to walk through findings, answer questions and plan implementation approach.
6
AWS Well-Architected Six Pillars
Our reviews are structured around the AWS Well-Architected Framework's six pillars. You'll get a clear view of strengths, risks and prioritised improvements in each area.
Operational Excellence Pillar
We assess your deployment pipelines, runbooks, incident response procedures, monitoring coverage and automation maturity to identify operational gaps before they cause outages.
Security Pillar
We perform deep dives into IAM policies, encryption at rest and in transit, network security, logging and monitoring, vulnerability management and incident detection capabilities.
Reliability Pillar
We evaluate your backup strategies, disaster recovery plans, multi-AZ configurations, auto-scaling policies and failure recovery procedures to minimise downtime risk.
Performance Efficiency Pillar
We analyse instance sizing, database performance, caching strategies, CDN usage and architectural patterns to eliminate bottlenecks and reduce latency.
Cost Optimisation Pillar
We identify idle resources, recommend reserved capacity, evaluate storage tiering opportunities, assess data transfer costs and provide rightsizing recommendations that typically save 30-40%.
Sustainability Pillar
We recommend more efficient architectures, identify opportunities to reduce data transfer and storage, and help establish sustainability KPIs for ongoing improvement.
Internal Review vs CloudLens Review
Why an independent review delivers better results than going it alone.
| Aspect | Internal Review | CloudLens Review |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Expertise | ✗ Limited to current team knowledge | ✓ AWS Certified Architects |
| Blind Spots | ✗ Inherit team assumptions | ✓ Fresh, unbiased perspective |
| Best Practices | ✗ May miss latest AWS guidance | ✓ Current with AWS updates |
| Prioritisation | ✗ Often unclear what to fix first | ✓ Risk-weighted roadmap |
| Cost Analysis | ✗ Basic spend visibility | ✓ Deep cost attribution and forecasting |
| Security Assessment | ✗ Basic compliance checks | ✓ CIS benchmarks and threat modelling |
Signs You Need a Review
If any of these sound familiar, it's time for an independent assessment.
AWS bill growing 20% month-on-month
Costs scaling faster than your business? We typically find 30-40% savings opportunities.
Preparing for compliance audit
ISO 27001, SOC2, or PCI DSS coming up? Get ahead of findings with our security review.
Recent security incident or near-miss
Close calls are warnings. We'll identify vulnerabilities before they become breaches.
Planning major scaling event
Black Friday, product launch, or funding round? Ensure your architecture can handle it.
Haven't reviewed architecture in 12+ months
AWS releases 2000+ updates yearly. Your setup is likely missing optimisations.
Team lacks AWS certified architects
Expert knowledge gaps lead to expensive mistakes and security vulnerabilities.
Why CloudLens?
- Independent. Unbiased, vendor-neutral advice focused on outcomes.
- AWS Certified Experts. Our architects hold AWS Architecture certifications, bringing proven expertise to every review.
- Experienced. Years of AWS solution architecture across public and private sector.
- Pragmatic. Clear, actionable recommendations over theory.
- Secure by Design. Reviews anchored in the AWS Well-Architected Framework and CIS benchmarks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need access to our AWS account?
Yes, but only read-only access. We'll help you set up an IAM role with minimal permissions needed for the review. This can be revoked immediately after the assessment. We never need or request write access.
Will the review cause any downtime?
No. Our review process is completely non-invasive. We use read-only access and custom scripts that don't impact performance. Your services continue running normally throughout the assessment.
What credentials and information do you need?
We need read-only IAM access to your AWS accounts, basic architecture documentation (if available) and a brief overview of your business requirements. All data is handled under strict NDA and deleted after project completion.
How do you ensure confidentiality?
We sign NDAs before any engagement, use encrypted channels for all data transfer and follow ISO 27001 security practices. Your data never leaves your region.
Can you help implement the recommendations?
Yes. While our reviews are independent, we can provide implementation support through our Ongoing Advisory package or take the lead with a hands-on remediation.
What format is the final report?
You receive a comprehensive PDF report with executive summary, detailed findings per AWS pillar, cost-benefit analysis and a prioritised action plan. Plus, exportable tickets for Jira, Azure DevOps or your preferred tracking tool.
What size companies do you work with?
We work with everyone from startups spending £1,000/month on AWS to enterprises with £1M+ monthly bills. Our recommendations scale to your needs and budget.
Send Us a Message
Tell us a little about your AWS environment and goals. We aim to respond within one business day.