Social Security Scotland.
Maximising cloud value for taxpayers through FinOps transformation
Social Security Scotland partners with IBM and Nordcloud to lead the way in reimagining cloud costs at government level
Project Summary.
Managing cost challenges amid rapid cloud growth.
Social Security Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government, was designed from day one to operate in the cloud environment. With the mission to deliver benefits fairly and efficiently to the people of Scotland, Social Security Scotland built their infrastructure on Amazon Web Services (AWS), embracing the agility and scalability of cloud-native technologies.
But rapid growth came with hidden costs. As the organization scaled, their cloud spends grew without the dedicated governance needed to track or optimise it. Under those circumstances, Social Security Scotland faced 2 pressing challenges:
- Significant cloud spending without clear visibility into resource utilisation and cost controls.
- Inability to attribute cloud consumption to specific teams or business units, making it difficult to ensure cost attribution to the right service owners.
With a delivery programme nearing its end and the increased emphasis on budget constraints at both the UK and Scottish governments, Social Security Scotland made optimising costs, without compromising service delivery, a significantly higher priority, with maximising value for the citizens of Scotland the clear aim.
390%
ROI achieved in 18 months
78%
Savings from usage optimization
36%
Drop in core business cloud costs
Social Security Scotland developed its FinOps capability significantly and this is primarily down to the service Nordcloud has provided. We are still on a journey but our in house confidence is good and we are working on building capacity to fully take on the function.
Transforming FinOps to bring transparency, accountability and savings.
To tackle their business challenges, Social Security Scotland took the decision to invest and partnered with IBM Consulting® and Nordcloud, an IBM Company, to outline and assist in the implementation of a comprehensive FinOps transformation. The implementation began with the deployment of the IBM© Cloudability© platform, a leading FinOps tool that provides immediate visibility into cloud spend and surfaces actionable cost optimisation opportunities.
On one side of the partnership, IBM Consulting worked closely with Social Security Scotland’s engineering leadership and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) to assess the financial impact of their cloud usage and define a roadmap for transformation. This strategic advisory work was powered by IBM Cloud Platform Engineering Services and IBM Cloud and Technology Strategy, which helped architect a solution tailored to Social Security Scotland’s unique public sector environment.
Social Security Scotland chose not to implement a fully managed service but Nordcloud, defined the strategy and operating model, and supported the required engineering efforts and the change generally. For example, this led to showback reports that revealed which teams were consuming cloud resources and how much they were spending. This enabled Social Security Scotland to ensure accurate cost attribution and foster a new culture of accountability. In addition, the IBM Consulting team also layered in custom analysis and semi-automated engineering solutions to identify and eliminate waste.
Security remained the top priority throughout the transformation. IBM, Nordcloud and Social Security Scotland re-architected applications on AWS with security and compliance embedded by design. This included implementing “compliance as code” practices that aligned with the agency’s internal security standards, filling the gaps where controls had previously been missing. The team also introduced the use of enterprise-grade, open-source technologies to reduce licencing costs. Additionally, they created a tailored FinOps framework that combined automation, manual analysis and strategic consulting.
The result was a smarter, more transparent cloud strategy that not only optimised spend but also enhanced digital service delivery and operational resilience. Social Security Scotland is now at the forefront of FinOps capability in the UK public sector and a model for other organisations to deliver the best possible value for taxpayers.
This transformation was about more than optimising cloud spend, it was about reshaping how we operate. With IBM and Nordcloud’s support, we embedded FinOps into our culture, introduced new governance models and built the internal capabilities to drive smarter, faster decisions across the organisation.
FinOps maturity accelerated. Millions saved.
The results of the transformation were immediate and impactful. In just 18 months, Social Security Scotland achieved the cost optimisation goals originally set for a 3-year period. Within the first year alone, the organisation had a 30.4% reduction in cloud costs. As a result, the agency was able to save a huge amount, with 78% of those savings driven by usage optimization.
“We didn’t just deliver cost optimisation – we helped Social Security Scotland build a FinOps operating model that gave them control, accountability and long-term sustainability. Introducing cloud unit economics provided a benchmark to measure the business value of the cloud. Finally, achieving 3 years’ worth of savings in just 18 months was a testament to the power of strategic consulting and engineering working together,” said Olga Zagraba and Marcin Walków, Nordcloud FinOps consultants.
Key outcomes include:
- 390% ROI achieved in 18 months, exceeding 3-year targets in half the time
- 36% drop in core business cloud costs, driven by usage and rate optimization, including rearchitecting and licencing, measured by cloud unit economics
- 30.4% reduction in cloud spend in the first year
- 78% of savings from usage optimisation, enabled by tailored engineering and FinOps practices
IBM and Nordcloud continue to support Social Security Scotland as strategic partners, helping the agency evolve their cloud strategy and maintain financial discipline. With a robust FinOps foundation in place, Social Security Scotland is now better equipped to deliver public services efficiently, transparently and sustainably.
About Social Security Scotland.
Social Security Scotland, founded in 2018, is an executive agency of the Scottish government. Headquartered in Dundee and Glasgow, they administer 17 benefits to around 1.8 million people across Scotland. With approximately 4,000 employees, they operate under principles of dignity, fairness and respect to support those in need.
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