I am part of a team that is building a new matchmaking site, which is effectively a match making service (although not for people, its the same process for the two parties in the transaction).
I will therefore need a secure site, where people/companies can build their profiles, upload some documentation (assume 50mb per profile), and answer some questions to feed into our algorithms.
The site will then require some database crunching to match up two or more parties e-harmony style (though again, not for dating), make the initial connection with say an average of 10 shortlisted parties, take a payment, and connect the parties as well as allow downloading of say 50mb of files per party (i.e. 500mb transferred).
Allow for 2 scenarios, one where all numbers grow at 100% per year, and the other at 300% per year, with a base of 10 matches per month and 100 users per month joining.
So,
Low Scenario:
Yr 0, 100 users = 5,000mb uploaded/month,10 matches/month
Yr 1, 200 users = 10,000mb uploaded/month,20 matches/month
Yr 2, 400 users = 20,000mb uploaded/month,40 matches/month
Yr 3, 800 users = 40,000mb uploaded/month,80 matches/month
Yr 4, 1600 users = 80,000mb uploaded/month,160 matches/month
Yr 5, 3200 users = 160,000mb uploaded/month,320 matches/month
High Scenario:
Yr 0, 100 users = 5,000mb uploaded/month,10 matches/month
Yr 1, 300 users = 15,000mb uploaded/month,30 matches/month
Yr 2, 900 users = 45,000mb uploaded/month,90 matches/month
Yr 3, 2,700 users = 135,000mb uploaded/month,270 matches/month
Yr 4, 8,100 users = 405,000mb uploaded/month,810 matches/month
Yr 5, 24,300 users = 1,215,000mb uploaded/month,2430 matches/month
On top of this would be the general site hosting, which seems straight forward, but I need a quick buildup of what is needed for the back end crunching, data transfer, website security certificates, and online payment portals.
At this stage, I don't need a detailed breakdown, just a quick "you're going to need AWS products XYZ which will cost $XXX/month until year 3 when they will increase by YYY per year"