In today’s cloud-driven world, flexibility and scalability aren’t just “nice-to-haves” — they’re prerequisites for delivering modern SaaS platforms. At WIV.ai, we needed an architecture that could scale on demand, reduce operational overhead, and remain cost-effective for our FinOps solution. After evaluating various options, we chose to build our platform on AWS serverless technologies, managed through the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). Below, we’ll walk you through the rationale behind these decisions, the benefits we’ve realized, and how this strategy gives us a competitive edge.

Our Serverless Stack

To support our FinOps solution, we rely on AWS’s robust serverless ecosystem:

  • Lambda for on-demand compute
  • SQS and SNS for asynchronous messaging and event-driven workflows
  • S3 for object storage
  • DynamoDB for scalable NoSQL database needs
  • ECS for containerized workloads (when more control over the runtime environment is needed)
  • AWS Batch for high-volume batch processing
  • Serverless OpenSearch for log analytics, real-time search, and reporting

This combination covers everything from real-time event processing to data storage, ensuring we only pay for the resources we actually use.

Why Serverless?

1. Cost Optimization

Traditional infrastructure models often include paying for idle capacity, which can bloat budgets. By contrast, serverless ensures we only pay for the compute and storage we utilize:

  • Lambda charges per execution time and memory used.
  • DynamoDB auto-scales read/write capacity and bills for actual throughput.
  • Serverless OpenSearch removes the need for managing and scaling clusters manually.
  • Minimal overhead and fewer unused resources translate directly to lower costs.

2. Automatic Scaling

FinOps workloads are frequently bursty — one moment, you’re handling moderate traffic, and the next, you’re processing massive datasets:

  • Lambda automatically scales to meet demand, from zero to thousands of concurrent executions.
  • DynamoDB adjusts provisioning behind the scenes to absorb read/write spikes.
  • SQS and SNS decouple microservices and provide buffering to smooth out traffic surges.
  • Serverless OpenSearch expands and contracts capacity as usage patterns fluctuate.

3. Reduced Operational Overhead

Managing servers and applying patches isn’t where we add value as a FinOps provider. By delegating infrastructure management to AWS:

  • We avoid manual maintenance and tedious updates.
  • We rely on AWS’s built-in security, high availability, and fault tolerance.
  • Data backups, versioning, and operational tasks are handled automatically.

This means our team can focus on refining FinOps features and delivering a top-notch user experience.

4. Enhanced Development Velocity

A serverless approach complements our agile development practices:

  • Developers concentrate on business logic rather than provisioning servers or tweaking configurations.
  • New features can be deployed and tested quickly.
  • Native retry and error-handling mechanisms reduce complexity.
  • Managed services like OpenSearch or DynamoDB seamlessly handle complex functionalities (e.g., analytics and storage) that would otherwise require specialized skills to manage in-house.

Why CDK?

1. Infrastructure as Type-Safe Code

Unlike traditional Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools that rely heavily on YAML/JSON, the AWS CDK lets us define infrastructure using full-fledged programming languages (TypeScript, Python, etc.):

  • Type checking catches misconfigurations at compile-time.
  • Developers benefit from IDE features like auto-completion, refactoring, and IntelliSense.
  • Infrastructure patterns can be shared and reused, enhancing consistency and reliability.

2. Better Developer Experience

CDK doesn’t just make our infrastructure robust; it streamlines our entire development process:

  • High-level constructs encapsulate AWS best practices, reducing boilerplate.
  • Object-oriented design principles enable better code organization.
  • Infrastructure code can be unit tested with the same frameworks and methodologies used for application code.
  • Team members can contribute without deep CloudFormation knowledge, speeding up onboarding.

3. Streamlined Deployments

CDK’s deployment features make pushing updates and rolling back a breeze:

  • Automated dependency management ensures resources are created in the right order.
  • Built-in change detection highlights exactly what will change before you deploy.
  • Safe rollback ensures stability if something goes wrong.
  • CI/CD integration is straightforward, letting us automate testing and deployments across multiple environments.

Comparison with Traditional Approaches

Serverless vs. Traditional EC2/Container-Based Architecture

Traditional Approach:

  • Requires upfront capacity planning and manual scaling policies.
  • Pay for servers even when idle.
  • Ongoing patching and maintenance burdens.
  • Complex to ensure high availability.

Serverless Approach:

  • Auto-scales to zero and back up on demand.
  • Reduced maintenance (AWS manages the underlying infrastructure).
  • Pay-per-use means immediate cost savings.
  • High availability is built-in, reducing operational risk.

CDK vs. Traditional IaC Tools

Traditional IaC Tools (e.g., raw CloudFormation, YAML/JSON):

  • Rely on verbose templates prone to human error.
  • Lack inherent type-checking.
  • Limited modularity or code reuse.

CDK Advantages:

  • Use familiar programming languages with robust tooling.
  • Strong typing prevents misconfigurations at compile time.
  • Flexible abstraction patterns and a growing ecosystem of third-party constructs.
  • Easily testable and maintainable code.

Real-World Impact

Since moving to a serverless, CDK-based infrastructure, we’ve seen tangible benefits:

  • 40% Reduction in Infrastructure Costs

By scaling to zero and paying only for what we use, we’ve slashed our monthly AWS bill without compromising performance.

  • 3x Faster Feature Deployment

With CDK’s infrastructure-as-code model, we can spin up new environments or features rapidly and test them safely.

  • 99.99% Availability

Native high availability ensures we meet stringent uptime requirements, even during sudden traffic bursts.

  • Effortless Scaling

Our platform handles 10x traffic spikes automatically, allowing us to stay focused on feature development rather than firefighting capacity issues.

Conclusion

Building a scalable FinOps platform requires an architecture that can handle unpredictable demand while keeping overhead to a minimum. AWS Serverless services deliver on this promise by offering on-demand scaling and pay-per-use pricing. Meanwhile, the AWS CDK elevates our developer productivity by enabling type-safe, easily testable infrastructure as code.

For Wiv.ai, this combination not only saves us money and operational headaches — it accelerates innovation. As AWS’s serverless offerings continue to evolve, we look forward to adopting new features that help us refine our FinOps capabilities, empower our customers, and drive better business outcomes.

Interested in learning more about our approach or how Wiv.ai can help optimize your cloud costs? Reach out to our team or explore our documentation to see how we’re pushing the boundaries of FinOps with AWS serverless technologies.