This is something you have mentioned before, so thought I'd go to source to see if I could learn something useful.
In the current Quarterly (9 Months to Date) receipts as a percentage of Item 1.2b costs was $4.1M v $1.745M, 42.5%.
Current quarter was $724k v. $423k, more than 58%, distorting both the Quarterly and 9 Months to Date costs as a percentage, by low receipts. Hypothetically, had the additional $1M been collected in the quarter, giving total receipts of $1.4M, the current quarter percentage would have been 30%
However:
Jan Q was $3.4M v. costs of $1M, 29%.
Oct Q was $2M v $570k, 28%
July Q (EOFY 23) was $9.411M v. $1.758M, 18.7%
Which suggests that, as stated below, AWS/External contractor costs as a percentage of receipts decreases as receipts increase. The trend should continue as receipts increase due to US utility program delays resolving and existing/new customers increasing spend across other verticals.
Also note in the Jan Q commentary that, as stated below, "Ongoing AWS costs as a percentage of revenue are expected to continue to trend down in coming quarters as further cost optimisation strategies are adopted in conjunction with AWS engineers."
Herewith the reply: COSTS IN 1.2b INCLUDE EXTERNAL CONTRACTOR COSTS THAT ARE NEEDED FROM TIME TO TIME TO QA THE ANALYTICS - WE TYPICALLY USE INDIAN OR PHILIPPINES CONTRACTORS TO LOG INTO THE PLATFORM AND QA OUR ANALYTICS RESULTS.
ACTUAL AWS COSTS HAVE COME DOWN DRAMATICALLY OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS AS DISCLOSED IN THE RECENT 2-3 QUARTERLY COMMENTARIES. S3 (STORAGE COSTS) HAVE TRENDED DOWN DESPITE MORE CUSTOMER DATA (PETABYTES) BEING ON THE PLATFORM.
EC2 COSTS (COMPUTE TIME TO RUN ANALYTICS) VARY DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF ANALYTICS JOBS DONE IN ANY MONTH HOWEVER THE WAY WE SPIN-UP EC2 INSTANCES TO RUN ANALYTICS HAS ALSO IMPROVED SO OUR “COST PER ANALYTIC” IS COMING DOWN EVEN IF THE ABSOLUTE SPEND GOES UP BECAUSE WE ARE DOING MORE WORK.
WE ARE FORENSIC IN MANAGING ALL EXTERNAL COSTS (AWS AND CONTRACTORS).
OUR PEAK MONTHLY AWS SPEND WAS USD120K AND IT IS NOW CLOSER TO USD50K.
