Tidal Migrations is now Tidal!

clouds

Identifying Licensing Savings with In-Memory Caching: How Tidal and AWS ElastiCache Drive Down Costs

There’s sometimes millions to be saved in Oracle and SQL Server licensing by introducing a caching layer to your applications. Here, we explore how to find them.

clouds clouds
Identifying Licensing Savings with In-Memory Caching: How Tidal and AWS ElastiCache Drive Down Costs

Identifying Licensing Savings with In-Memory Caching: How Tidal and AWS ElastiCache Drive Down Costs

Introduction

Enterprise organizations often spend a large portion of their IT budgets on database licensing—particularly Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server fees. Yet there is an often-overlooked strategy that can unlock significant cost savings: in-memory caching. By leveraging caching layers such as AWS ElastiCache, you can reduce the load on primary databases, shrink compute footprints, and ultimately lower your overall licensing spend.

At Tidal, we specialize in helping organizations discover and execute these modernization strategies through our no-cost Optimization and Modernization Assessment (OMA). Below, we’ll explore how in-memory caching works, the dramatic effect it can have on database licensing costs, and how Tidal’s OMA ensures you get the maximum return on your modernization efforts.

The High Cost of Database Licensing

Databases are often the backbone of enterprise applications, and licensing costs for Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server can be some of the largest line items on your IT budget. Over time, as data volumes grow and new features or modules come online, organizations frequently scale up their existing database environments—paying ever-larger licensing fees. This approach quickly becomes unsustainable.

What if you could eliminate much of that heavy lifting from the database altogether? By removing extraneous read calls, offloading queries to a faster in-memory store, and improving latency, you reduce the peak loads on your databases. That’s where AWS ElastiCache comes in.

Introducing AWS ElastiCache for In-Memory Caching

AWS ElastiCache is a fully managed, in-memory caching service built for high performance and low latency. It helps offload read-intensive operations that would normally hit your primary databases—think Oracle or SQL Server—by storing frequently accessed data in memory.

  • Faster Data Access: Queries served by in-memory caches can be several times faster than those served by disk-based databases.
  • Reduced Database Load: With fewer read/write operations flowing to your main database, you can downsize the database tier or reduce the number of licensed cores.
  • Licensing Savings: Lower database usage often translates directly into lower licensing costs.

According to an IDC study, companies leveraging ElastiCache experienced up to a 70% reduction in database maintenance and licensing costs and achieved a 449% ROI over three years. That is a compelling business case for modernizing your data layer.

Reducing Oracle and SQL Server Licenses Through Caching

Here’s how introducing a caching layer can directly reduce licensing spend:

  1. Fewer Database Instances: When read-intensive workloads are handled by ElastiCache, you may not need the same number of Oracle or SQL Server instances.
  2. Lower CPU and Memory Requirements: With fewer database calls, you can often scale down the CPU or memory allocated to your licensed database servers.
  3. Optimized Footprints: By freeing up resources, you create an opportunity to consolidate existing database environments, renegotiate licensing terms, or drop unneeded licenses altogether.

For organizations looking to lighten the expensive overhead of enterprise-grade databases, in-memory caching can be an unexpectedly powerful solution.

Tidal’s No-Cost OMA: Identifying Opportunities and Building a Roadmap

Of course, knowing that in-memory caching will help is only half the battle—you also need a clear plan to deploy it. That’s where Tidal’s Optimization and Modernization Assessment (OMA) comes in. Here’s how it works:

  1. Discovery: We analyze up to 10 applications within your environment, looking for performance bottlenecks and licensing pain points.
  2. Analysis & Recommendations: Our experts pinpoint where in-memory caching can have the greatest impact. We also identify other modernization opportunities (compute, storage, or application layers) that lower costs.
  3. Business Case & ROI Calculation: We deliver a directional business case that details both your short-term savings (license reductions) and long-term benefits (faster applications, higher ROI).
  4. Actionable Roadmap: You receive an actionable plan to implement AWS ElastiCache—or other AWS-native services—to optimize and modernize your environment.

Real-World Impact: 449% ROI, 70% Cost Reduction, and Beyond

During recent engagements, Tidal has helped clients realize impressive improvements:

  • Up to 70% reductions in database maintenance and licensing costs.
  • Multiple times improvement in application performance thanks to in-memory caching.
  • 7-month payback period, with a 449% ROI over three years according to independent IDC research on ElastiCache.
  • No code changes needed in many cases, making the move to in-memory caching a low-hassle solution.

These aren’t just hypothetical numbers. Tidal has guided multiple CIOs and IT directors through the transition to AWS-native services, showcasing how a well-planned caching strategy can dramatically reduce cost and complexity while improving user experience.

Next Steps: Free Assessment and Future-Proofing Your IT

If you’re interested in learning how in-memory caching can free up capital for reinvestment or drive your next wave of digital transformation, Tidal’s no-cost OMA is the fastest way to get started. We’ll help you identify your biggest opportunities for ElastiCache adoption, highlight where Oracle or SQL Server can be scaled back, and then provide an actionable roadmap for your modernization journey.

Don’t let licensing fees dictate your IT budget. With AWS ElastiCache and Tidal OMA, you can achieve higher performance, lower costs, and free up resources for innovation.

About Tidal

Tidal is a leader in cloud migration and modernization, partnering with AWS to help organizations transform their IT environments more efficiently. Our platform and assessment frameworks have accelerated cloud modernization for some of the world’s largest enterprises, delivering significant ROI and cost reductions along the way.

Ready to save on licensing costs while boosting application performance? Contact Tidal or start your free Optimization and Modernization Assessment (OMA) today.