K1x Slashes Cloud Costs and Streamlines Kubernetes Operations

Rather than spend hours manually figuring out what to measure and how, Jason adopted PerfectScale to deliver immediate, actionable Kubernetes optimization recommendations. PerfectScale provided node-level visibility, identified idle resources, right-sized workload CPU and memory allocations, surfaced memory leaks and other critical issues, and automated tuning—freeing Jason to focus on strategic priorities while managing Kubernetes with a smaller team.

K1x is a high-growth, AI-powered tax software provider based in New Jersey that spun out from an enterprise organization to bring its innovative tax solutions to market at scale. Its tech stack includes Azure AKS, ArgoCD, and Terraform. As part of the spinout, K1x migrated several Kubernetes clusters but did not retain the team members who had been running them—leaving lead platform operator Jason Berk to refine the architecture and support a dynamic engineering team.

When Jason joined K1x, he discovered numerous optimization opportunities across the Kubernetes environment. Node pools were oversized and wasted significant resources, running at minimums two to three times higher than needed while using less than 10% of available capacity. Workloads were deployed without fully aligning with best practices, expensive compute-optimized nodes were used unnecessarily, and existing tools like Prometheus surfaced raw metrics but offered no actionable guidance. As Jason put it: 'We had nodes in our cluster running at a minimum scale that was two or three times what we actually needed. They never auto-scaled up, but we were using less than 10% of the resources and we needed them to scale down. It was a huge waste.'

Jason needed a solution that could quickly identify optimization opportunities and provide actionable recommendations. 'I told my CTO: it will take me hours figuring it all out—what to measure, how to measure it, and whether I'm even doing it right—or we can just buy PerfectScale. It'll solve the problem faster and cheaper.' PerfectScale delivered actionable insights ('Here's the workload, here's the right settings'), gave Jason clear visibility into node utilization and workload settings, and simplified Kubernetes optimization in a way that saved him significant time.

PerfectScale revealed inefficiencies in K1x's Kubernetes environment immediately. 'PerfectScale made me ask the right questions—like, Why are we running this workload on this node pool? Within a couple of months, I shut those node pools down completely and saved us thousands of dollars a month.' The platform helped K1x eliminate idle resources at the node level, right-size workloads with clear CPU and memory recommendations for developers, surface critical issues such as memory leaks (including one app that restarted 4,000 times in a single month before Jason fixed it), and streamline operations through automated tuning.

Within a month, K1x shut down entire node pools, redirecting thousands of dollars in monthly savings back into the budget. Beyond cost savings, PerfectScale eliminated inefficiencies that caused workload instability such as memory leaks and resource bottlenecks, improving resiliency. The tool also enabled Jason to manage Kubernetes effectively with a smaller team.

PerfectScale empowered Jason to transform K1x's Kubernetes into a highly optimized environment. With insights, automation, and ongoing support, he can quickly recommend and take action on strategic improvements. Jason also values the partnership: 'I've been blown away by the one-on-one support I've gotten from PerfectScale. They answer my questions quickly and even walk me through problems when I need help. For someone in my position, it's been a lifesaver.'