a month 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.