Ento achieves 80% cost reduction in AWS Cloud and improved Aurora MySQL Uptime for their Workforce SaaS Platform
Challenge
About the Client: Ento’s Cloud-First SaaS Platform
Ento, a workforce management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, built its cloud-native HR platform on AWS Aurora MySQL. The business experienced rapid growth and was later acquired by HumanForce in 2022, further accelerating its need for scalable and efficient infrastructure at the time.
Ento’s product was being used in retail, hospitality and other industries and as well as in some 10,000 workplaces with 100,000 employees at the time. It was focused on shift-based workers and aimed to enable employers to manage rostering, time and attendance, leave and onboarding from a centralised platform.
The Challenge: Rising Costs and Performance Gaps
Ento’s cloud architecture leveraged the flexibility of AWS to support its growing customer base. However, as the application scaled, Aurora MySQL’s auto-scaling and resizing capabilities began to drive up infrastructure costs significantly, reaching over $100,000 annually for a single production database instance.
Despite the escalating spend, performance remained inconsistent, falling short of expected thresholds during peak usage. Ento required a solution that could address both cost inefficiencies and sub-optimal database performance—without compromising uptime or user experience. Given the 100,000 + employees that relied on it, so performance loss, or worse, downtime, was certainly not an option.
About the Client: Ento’s Cloud-First SaaS Platform
Ento, a workforce management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, built its cloud-native HR platform on AWS Aurora MySQL. The business experienced rapid growth and was later acquired by HumanForce in 2022, further accelerating its need for scalable and efficient infrastructure at the time.
Ento’s product was being used in retail, hospitality and other industries and as well as in some 10,000 workplaces with 100,000 employees at the time. It was focused on shift-based workers and aimed to enable employers to manage rostering, time and attendance, leave and onboarding from a centralised platform.
The Challenge: Rising Costs and Performance Gaps
Ento’s cloud architecture leveraged the flexibility of AWS to support its growing customer base. However, as the application scaled, Aurora MySQL’s auto-scaling and resizing capabilities began to drive up infrastructure costs significantly, reaching over $100,000 annually for a single production database instance.
Despite the escalating spend, performance remained inconsistent, falling short of expected thresholds during peak usage. Ento required a solution that could address both cost inefficiencies and sub-optimal database performance—without compromising uptime or user experience. Given the 100,000 + employees that relied on it, so performance loss, or worse, downtime, was certainly not an option.
Solution
Blue Crystal Solutions (Blue Crystal) was engaged to assess and remediate the performance and cost challenges in Ento’s AWS database environment. Leveraging our Cloud Economics best practice framework, we addressed the problem using three key pillars:
Visibility: Gaining Insight into Usage and Costs
Blue Crystal conducted a detailed analysis of Ento’s AWS environment, focusing on:
Performance metrics and workload patterns across Aurora MySQL
Cost attribution per instance and resource allocation
Identification of over-provisioned instances and underutilised capacity
Using these insights, we created a clear picture of actual usage versus provisioned resources—a critical foundation for optimisation.
2. Optimisation: Performance Tuning and Cost Reduction
With visibility established, Blue Crystal developed a tailored optimisation plan covering instance configuration, storage, and workload tuning, tuned query patterns and reduced unnecessary overhead and identified cost-saving opportunities through instance right-sizing and scaling controls. This resulted in more than an 80% reduction in database costs and significantly improved database responsiveness and reliability.
3. Governance: Sustaining Long-Term Efficiency
To maintain ongoing performance and cost control, Blue Crystal:
- Deployed proactive monitoring tools to detect anomalies and performance degradation in real time
- Provided governance recommendations for scaling policies and budget thresholds
- Enabled cost ownership by aligning cloud usage with business teams and technical stakeholders
These governance controls ensured Ento’s cloud database remained optimised even as workloads evolved.
Blue Crystal Solutions (Blue Crystal) was engaged to assess and remediate the performance and cost challenges in Ento’s AWS database environment. Leveraging our Cloud Economics best practice framework, we addressed the problem using three key pillars:
Visibility: Gaining Insight into Usage and Costs
Blue Crystal conducted a detailed analysis of Ento’s AWS environment, focusing on:
Performance metrics and workload patterns across Aurora MySQL
Cost attribution per instance and resource allocation
Identification of over-provisioned instances and underutilised capacity
Using these insights, we created a clear picture of actual usage versus provisioned resources—a critical foundation for optimisation.
2. Optimisation: Performance Tuning and Cost Reduction
With visibility established, Blue Crystal developed a tailored optimisation plan covering instance configuration, storage, and workload tuning, tuned query patterns and reduced unnecessary overhead and identified cost-saving opportunities through instance right-sizing and scaling controls. This resulted in more than an 80% reduction in database costs and significantly improved database responsiveness and reliability.
3. Governance: Sustaining Long-Term Efficiency
To maintain ongoing performance and cost control, Blue Crystal:
- Deployed proactive monitoring tools to detect anomalies and performance degradation in real time
- Provided governance recommendations for scaling policies and budget thresholds
- Enabled cost ownership by aligning cloud usage with business teams and technical stakeholders
These governance controls ensured Ento’s cloud database remained optimised even as workloads evolved.
Results
As a result of the engagement, Ento achieved:
- Over 80% Reduction in Database Costs
Substantially lowered cloud spend by eliminating overprovisioned resources and tuning configurations for efficiency. - Improved Performance & Reliability
Optimised Aurora MySQL instances delivered faster query response times and enhanced consistency during high-demand periods. - Increased Operational Resilience
Continuous monitoring and alerts helped the Ento team address potential issues before they impacted users, ensuring high availability.
Blue Crystal enabled Ento to regain control over its cloud database environment, delivering a scalable, cost-efficient, and high-performing Aurora MySQL architecture. This outcome not only enhanced customer experience but also turned a growing challenge into a strategic advantage.
As a result of the engagement, Ento achieved:
- Over 80% Reduction in Database Costs
Substantially lowered cloud spend by eliminating overprovisioned resources and tuning configurations for efficiency. - Improved Performance & Reliability
Optimised Aurora MySQL instances delivered faster query response times and enhanced consistency during high-demand periods. - Increased Operational Resilience
Continuous monitoring and alerts helped the Ento team address potential issues before they impacted users, ensuring high availability.
Blue Crystal enabled Ento to regain control over its cloud database environment, delivering a scalable, cost-efficient, and high-performing Aurora MySQL architecture. This outcome not only enhanced customer experience but also turned a growing challenge into a strategic advantage.