Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
This article was co-authored with Alex Brown, vice president of engineering, and Jessica White, engineering manager, from the Motive team.
Motive has created a tracking and fleet management solution tailored for trucking companies. As Motive expanded its offerings, it recognized that its solution could benefit various businesses in the physical economy, including sectors like construction, agriculture, field service, and energy. A common challenge across these industries is the need to connect and automate operations, which is increasingly reliant on cloud infrastructure. Without adopting Amazon Web Services (AWS), these businesses would struggle to scale and meet rising demand.
Growth and Optimization with AWS
During the peak demand period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Motive experienced a 21% increase in AWS spending, primarily due to heightened activity in the trucking and logistics sector. Notably, their use of Amazon Elastic Transcoder, a video transcoding service, was a significant contributor to their costs. In this post, we delve into how Motive utilized Amazon Elastic Transcoder and how collaboration led to an impressive 85% cost reduction by transitioning to AWS Elemental MediaConvert, a more efficient transcoding service with advanced features.
Motive’s Initial Video Workflow
Motive’s customers deploy electronic logging devices (ELDs) and dashcams to facilitate tracking and safety monitoring for drivers. The dashcams upload video clips in a TAR bundle to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). This upload triggers an event in AWS Lambda, which processes the bundle and writes the files back to the bucket. Motive designed a system to submit transcoding jobs, track their progress, and record statuses upon completion. Each job generates MP4 and WebM videos for user viewing, assisting in driver safety analysis. The architecture of their original transcoding workflow is illustrated below.
On average, Motive processed tens of thousands of videos each day but anticipated growth in volume. Upon reviewing their usage patterns, they noted that MP4 was the primary format used, while WebM was largely unnecessary. Charges for Amazon Elastic Transcoder are based on job submissions, with a minimum charge for durations rounded up to 1 minute, impacting costs significantly for shorter videos.
Cost Analysis with AWS Cost Explorer
AWS Cost Explorer provides a user-friendly interface for tracking AWS costs over time. The Cost Explorer data revealed Motive’s Elastic Transcoder charges averaged around $3,000 on weekdays, while weekend costs were lower due to reduced trucking activities.
After assessing Motive’s transcoding needs, we recommended transitioning to MediaConvert. MediaConvert offers a robust suite of transcoding features that cater to diverse use cases and enhances scalability for processing files concurrently. The updated architecture flow for Motive’s transcoding jobs is shown below.
With MediaConvert, users can opt for on-demand or reserved pricing based on their workload and transcoding needs. We advised Motive to start with on-demand pricing, which charges in 1-second increments, providing significant cost savings. For instance, a 45-second output would be billed for 0.75 of a minute, with a minimum billing of 10 seconds for shorter files. This pricing model was highly beneficial for Motive, whose typical video duration was around 30 seconds. The current daily charges for MediaConvert dropped to approximately $300.
Comparison of Costs
The transition from Amazon Elastic Transcoder to MediaConvert resulted in substantial savings. The following table compares the file sizes and costs associated with both services, demonstrating the compression efficiency achieved through MediaConvert.
For short-duration files, MediaConvert proved even more economical, as it bills a minimum of 10 seconds compared to the 60-second minimum of Amazon Elastic Transcoder. This difference led to significant savings for Motive, as illustrated in the cost comparison table.
Motive’s success story illustrates the impact of leveraging cloud solutions like AWS to optimize operations and reduce costs. For those interested in similar advancements, this blog post on negotiation strategies may provide valuable insights. Additionally, for authoritative information on compliance matters, visit SHRM’s ERISA Form 5500. For those looking for opportunities at Amazon, check out this Area Manager position for a great career path.
6401 E HOWDY WELLS AVE LAS VEGAS NV 89115, Amazon IXD – VGT2
Leave a Reply