AWS due diligence and portfolio standardization — engineered, not estimated.
Private equity firms inherit a different AWS problem from every acquisition: undocumented architectures, opaque spend, accumulating risk, and no comparable view across the portfolio. We give the firm and the portfolio operations team a clear read on AWS posture pre- and post-deal — and the standardization playbook to act on it.
The PE-on-AWS reality
- Pre-acquisition due diligence on AWS posture is rarely deep — and the gaps show up post-close
- Every portfolio company has its own tagging, account, and cost discipline — comparability is hard
- Margin improvement is real — in our experience, portfolio AWS bills typically carry 15–30% optimization headroom on day one
- Standardization across the portfolio unlocks volume discounts, shared tooling, and faster post-close integration
- The operations partner and the deal team need the same view of AWS reality — usually they don't have it
- Exit-readiness on cloud posture is a value-creation lever — buyers price down what they can't verify
What we deliver to PE
Two distinct engagements: deal-team due diligence (pre-close) and operations-partner standardization (post-close). Both rooted in the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
Pre-close: the Cost Optimization Scan delivers dollar-quantified findings in 5–7 days; deeper security or architecture reads run two to four weeks — scoped to your deal window on the call. Post-close: a portfolio standardization playbook with the first dollar-quantified savings identified in the first quarter.
Two engagement shapes for PE
Cloud due diligence
AWS assessment scoped to the diligence window — the 5–7 day Cost Scan for a fast dollar-quantified read, or a two-to-four-week security/architecture review when the deal allows. The findings memo covers: cost optimization headroom, compliance gaps, technical debt, key-person risks, and architectural anti-patterns that will affect the value-creation plan.
Portfolio standardization
Standardize AWS posture across the portfolio: tagging, account topology via AWS Organizations, baseline security via Control Tower, FinOps cadence, and Well-Architected reviews on a recurring rhythm. Designed to compound — every new acquisition lands inside the playbook on day one.
Exit-readiness
Well-Architected posture review and remediation roadmap ahead of sale. We surface and close the cloud findings buyers' technical diligence will surface — so they don't become price-down conversations.
Operations partner support
Ongoing partnership with the firm's operations team — a senior AWS architect on standby for the next deal, the next operational fire, the next exit prep.
The PE portfolio stack we build with
- AWS Organizations + Control Tower for standardized account topology across the portfolio
- Service Catalog + Customizations for Control Tower for a portfolio-wide landing zone pattern
- Cost Explorer + Cost & Usage Report + Compute Optimizer for cross-portfolio cost visibility
- Security Hub + Audit Manager for a single posture view across portfolio companies
- Well-Architected Tool for documented reviews per portco — comparability across the portfolio
- Enterprise Discount Programs + Savings Plans — commitment strategy per portfolio company, with firm-level visibility and pooling where billing structures allow
How our solutions show up across the deal lifecycle
Assessments
Cloud due diligence scoped for the deal-team window — from a 5–7 day cost read to a multi-week architecture review. Dollar-quantified findings, no fluff.
Well-Architected Reviews
Standardized review across the portfolio. Comparable scoring, comparable backlogs, comparable progress.
Operate & Optimize
Dedicated hours at the firm level, applied across the portfolio as deals close, operations needs arise, and exits approach.
One playbook. The whole portfolio.
PE firms that build a standard AWS posture across the portfolio create durable value — every deal, every exit, every operating partner conversation.
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