--- title: "Episode 51: Size of Cloud Bill: Not About Number of Customers, but Number of Engineers You’ve Hired" id: "9775" type: "podcast" slug: "episode-51-size-of-cloud-bill-not-about-number-of-customers-but-number-of-engineers-you-ve-hired" published_at: "2019-03-06T07:00:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-08-20T05:34:02+00:00" url: "https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/episode-51-size-of-cloud-bill-not-about-number-of-customers-but-number-of-engineers-you-ve-hired/" markdown_url: "https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/episode-51-size-of-cloud-bill-not-about-number-of-customers-but-number-of-engineers-you-ve-hired.md" taxonomy_shows: - "Screaming in the Cloud" --- About the Author Corey is the Chief Cloud Economist at Duckbill, where he specializes in helping companies improve their AWS bills by making them smaller and less horrifying. He also hosts the "Screaming in the Cloud" and "AWS Morning Brief" podcasts; and curates "Last Week in AWS," a weekly newsletter summarizing the latest in AWS news, blogs, and tools, sprinkled with snark and thoughtful analysis in roughly equal measure. [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/id1361244178](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/id1361244178) [https://overcast.fm/itunes1361244178/screaming-in-the-cloud](https://overcast.fm/itunes1361244178/screaming-in-the-cloud) [https://pca.st/7l2e](https://pca.st/7l2e) [https://open.spotify.com/show/3fBA9eNkGliCzp3Xuy1GVd](https://open.spotify.com/show/3fBA9eNkGliCzp3Xuy1GVd) [https://feeds.transistor.fm/screaming-in-the-cloud](https://feeds.transistor.fm/screaming-in-the-cloud) ## Episode Summary Years ago, if you wanted to launch an Internet company or Web application, you had to own necessary hardware. Now, the economics have changed drastically with the ease of Cloud computing. It’s still a new industry that people are trying to figure out, especially when it comes to cost and optimization. Today, we’re talking to Dann Berg, a Cloud ops analyst at Datadog. He helps others understand and lower the cost of Cloud operations. Dann is a detective who is dedicated to figuring out why a company’s Cloud bill is so high. Some of the highlights of the show include: Companies struggle with field of Cloud economics; can be overwhelming because there’s so much to learn about products and implementation Companies use the Cloud to grow quickly, which makes their Cloud costs grow quickly and more than expected Only access to full list of every resource being used is the Cloud bill; there’s no comprehensive inventory service available Companies need to offer visibility to Cloud bill; not everyone has access to understand how their actions impact the bill Cost of Cloud bill is dependant on different factors, including new features, new users, and cost of goods sold (COGS) Scale and manage bill by using a platform app or hiring a consultant/team Understand pricing of AWS and learn best practices for cost controls early on Don’t leave money on the table by focusing on engineering time - not best use of resources; focus on the smallest things that have the biggest impact Cost is important, but don’t slow down those developing in the Cloud; open lines of communication to create culture to understand cost, value what’s measured Links: Dann Berg on Twitter Datadog re:Invent AWS Cost Explorer CloudHealth CloudCheckr Cloudability Lambda EC2 GCP Azure CHAOSSEARCH ## Episode Show Notes & Transcript Years ago, if you wanted to launch an Internet company or Web application, you had to own necessary hardware. Now, the economics have changed drastically with the ease of Cloud computing. It’s still a new industry that people are trying to figure out, especially when it comes to cost and optimization. Today, we’re talking to Dann Berg, a Cloud ops analyst at Datadog. He helps others understand and lower the cost of Cloud operations. Dann is a detective who is dedicated to figuring out why a company’s Cloud bill is so high. Some of the highlights of the show include: - Companies struggle with field of Cloud economics; can be overwhelming because there’s so much to learn about products and implementation - Companies use the Cloud to grow quickly, which makes their Cloud costs grow quickly and more than expected - Only access to full list of every resource being used is the Cloud bill; there’s no comprehensive inventory service available - Companies need to offer visibility to Cloud bill; not everyone has access to understand how their actions impact the bill - Cost of Cloud bill is dependant on different factors, including new features, new users, and cost of goods sold (COGS) - Scale and manage bill by using a platform app or hiring a consultant/team - Understand pricing of AWS and learn best practices for cost controls early on - Don’t leave money on the table by focusing on engineering time - not best use of resources; focus on the smallest things that have the biggest impact - Cost is important, but don’t slow down those developing in the Cloud; open lines of communication to create culture to understand cost, value what’s measured Links: - [Dann Berg on Twitter](https://twitter.com/dannberg?lang=en) - [Datadog](https://www.datadoghq.com/) - [re:Invent](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) - [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/) - [Cost Explorer](https://aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/aws-cost-explorer/) - [CloudHealth](https://www.cloudhealthtech.com/) - [CloudCheckr](https://cloudcheckr.com/) - [Cloudability](https://www.cloudability.com/) - [Lambda](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/) - [EC2](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/) - [GCP](https://cloud.google.com/) - [Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/) - [CHAOSSEARCH](http://chaossearch.io) . View Full Transcript Hide Full Transcript ## You might also like [More Podcast Episodes](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/) ### [AI Should Solve the Problem, Not Deflect the Customer](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/ai-should-solve-the-problem-not-deflect-the-customer/) Screaming in the Cloud 10.06.2026 31 Minutes [Play Episode](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/ai-should-solve-the-problem-not-deflect-the-customer/) ### [Open Source and the Future of Databases with German Eichberger](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/open-source-and-the-future-of-databases-with-german-eichberger/) Screaming in the Cloud 09.24.2026 24 Minutes [Play Episode](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/open-source-and-the-future-of-databases-with-german-eichberger/) ### [Lambda Slowly Becomes EC2, One Feature at a Time](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/lambda-slowly-becomes-ec2-one-feature-at-a-time/) Screaming in the Cloud 09.14.2026 4 Minutes [Play Episode](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/lambda-slowly-becomes-ec2-one-feature-at-a-time/)