Cut Your Cloud Bill Without Breaking What Works

Your cloud bill can grow faster than your business. In 50 minutes, three operators will show you three different ways to bring it back under control: optimise the tech, improve the commercial deal, or rethink the infrastructure altogether. Cloud infrastructure is essential to a growing technology business, but it can also become expensive, complex and surprisingly difficult to control. This session brings together Mark Zmarzly, Sarah Caveley and Tom Newton to unpack three practical ways startups and scaleups can reduce cloud costs without damaging performance or slowing growth. Rather than treating cloud optimisation as a single technical problem, the session will look at three distinct levers: technical optimisation, commercial and rate optimisation, and the possibility of moving away from the major cloud platforms when the economics no longer make sense. Expect real examples, trade-offs and practical approaches rather than generic advice. The aim is to help founders and technical leaders understand where the biggest savings opportunities usually sit, what each approach involves, and which path may make sense for their own business. What you'll leave with A clearer view of the main drivers behind cloud infrastructure costs Three different ways to reduce cloud spend: technical optimisation, commercial/rate optimisation, and cloud alternatives A better understanding of the trade-offs involved in each approach Practical ideas to investigate in your own infrastructure and supplier arrangements A framework for deciding where to focus first FormatPractical three-expert presentation, moderated discussion and Q&A. Who it's forStartup founders, CTOs, technical leaders, engineering leaders and operators in companies where cloud infrastructure is becoming a meaningful cost or scaling consideration. Most useful for businesses already running meaningful workloads rather than people looking for a basic introduction to cloud computing. Speakers Mark Zmarzly, Head of Startups & VC Partnerships at Morfless Sarah Calveley, Founder of PurePlay Cloud Tom Newton, Forward Deployed Engineer at Mulga The Startup Growth Lab is 2-days of practical workshops, live demos and real conversations, part of Spark Festival at UTS, 23-24 September 2026.