The same fixed amount of money is less noticeable in a larger organization. It's more likely that something more effective could have been done with the engineers' time.
On the other hand, if the larger organization hired an AWS specialist, as many do, the optimization might be "free" because the specialist wouldn't have been effective outside of their area.
On the other hand, if the larger organization hired an AWS specialist, as many do, the optimization might be "free" because the specialist wouldn't have been effective outside of their area.