We pay engineers to cut our infra bill

2 days ago

Rootly's engineer implemented ECR lifecycle policies, saving $44K annually, but received only a Slack thumbs-up as recognition.
Cost optimization often goes unaddressed due to lack of incentives, being treated as 'extra credit' compared to feature work with deadlines and OKRs.
Common industry approaches like cultural principles, visibility tools, and gamification exist but may not provide durable motivation for cost-saving initiatives.
Rootly created the 'Save & Share' program, offering cash bounties as a percentage of annualized savings to incentivize cost optimization across the company.
The program includes a verification process with baseline locks, realization windows, and sign-offs to ensure legitimacy and prevent gaming.
Anti-gaming measures include no retroactive claims, no double-dipping, reversal clauses, and quality bars to maintain program integrity.
The first payout was backdated for the ECR policy win, totaling ~$3,080, to demonstrate the program's seriousness and real rewards.
The goal is to build a culture where cost optimization is valued equally to feature work, making it worthwhile for engineers to act on savings opportunities.

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