Jisc
Case Study
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Transforming cloud management: Exeter’s journey to governed, cost-effective AWS infrastructure

With our support, the University of Exeter improved the control and visibility of their AWS estate, and made savings of around £315,000.

Cloud adoption in higher education is no longer about testing the waters. AWS infrastructure is now deeply embedded in day-to-day operations, teaching, and world-leading research. However, as cloud estates expand, many institutions face growing complexity - from fragmented accounts and unpredictable billing to a lack of clear financial oversight.

Since 2021, we have worked with the University of Exeter as their designated AWS cloud partner. What began as a procurement relationship for their OGVA 1.0 contract transitioned smoothly into the OGVA 2.0 framework. Over time, the relationship grew from basic cloud procurement into a true partnership focused on clear governance, total financial visibility, and getting maximum value from every pound spent.

Moving from fragmentation to control

Early cloud adoption prioritises speed, but rapid growth without central guardrails can lead to inefficiency. Before embedding a structured approach, managing cloud spend across diverse academic faculties, research grants, across multiple geographical locations and administrative departments presented a significant operational hurdle.

Mike Westwood, assistant IT director at the University of Exeter, found that setting up central guardrails helped his team move faster rather than slowing them down:

“Central governance allowed us to move from fragmented accounts to a governed structure with consistent security, central visibility and simplified billing.”

With dozens of active AWS accounts supporting hundreds of academic researchers and internal services, we helped Exeter move away from ad-hoc management. Onboarding new research projects is now faster, security controls are uniform, and billing is streamlined across the entire University.

Delivering value-added services

To help Exeter keep spending predictable, efficient, and fully transparent, we provided a wrapped suite of extra services at zero additional cost. These services go beyond standard cloud reselling to deliver direct operational and financial benefits.

Enterprise FinOps tooling and real-time visibility

Exeter received complimentary access to enterprise-grade FinOps tooling, including IBM Cloudability. This gives the University centralised, real-time insight into AWS costs across all accounts, projects, and active research grants

Customised multi-PO billing and accurate chargeback

We implemented a bespoke invoicing structure capable of handling multiple purchase orders (POs) simultaneously. Coupled with disciplined resource tagging, this saves Exeter’s finance team hours of manual reconciliation each month, allowing them to attribute costs directly to specific research grants and internal departments with total confidence.

Proactive FinOps advisory and optimisation

Our dedicated cloud specialists host monthly review calls with Exeter’s FinOps team. Rather than providing static reports, we actively analyse spending patterns, identify idle resources, recommend rightsizing opportunities, and assist with bespoke cost-recovery modelling.

Access to framework discounts and project credits

OGVA 2.0 has provided Exeter with the benefits of aggregated, sector-wide public sector pricing, enhanced framework discounts, and access to AWS project funding credits that stretch their operational budget further.

Tailored upskilling and technical workshops

We facilitated dedicated AWS training sessions and architectural guidance for Exeter’s internal teams, building long-term internal capability and reducing reliance on third-party contractors.

Visibility changes behaviour and culture

Real-time financial transparency has fundamentally reshaped accountability across the University. Engineering, research, and finance teams no longer operate in silos; they now work from the exact same dataset using a shared financial language.

This FinOps approach has turned AWS spend from an unpredictable risk into a well-managed institutional service. Forecasting is now reliable, audit trails for research grants are fully defensible, and cost optimisation has become an ongoing daily habit.

Reflecting on the partnership during a joint public sector webinar, Mike Westwood put it simply:

“The real question isn’t why sign up – it’s why wouldn’t you?”

Operational benefits and savings at a glance

Through the OGVA 2.0 framework and Jisc's advisory support, the University of Exeter achieved over £315,000 in cloud savings in year one of the contract.

  • Full visibility of AWS spend: centralised, real-time insight across all academic accounts, IT projects, and research environments
  • Accurate chargeback and cost recovery: granular cost attribution to specific grants and departments through advanced tagging discipline and multi-PO invoicing
  • Cost optimisation by default: continuous waste identification, rightsizing, and savings tracking via complimentary IBM Cloudability tooling
  • Shared institutional accountability: aligned engineering, research, and finance teams working from identical data
  • Predictable and defensible costs: reliable forecasting, fewer billing surprises, and stronger funding and audit conversations

Cloud as a strategic capability

The institutions achieving the highest return on their cloud investments are those treating infrastructure not as a collection of isolated IT projects, but as a core institutional service.

Through strong governance, total financial visibility, and an ongoing partnership with Jisc, the University of Exeter has turned AWS adoption into a cost-effective, future-proof capability.

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