Part 2: Understand Your True AWS Costs and What needed to Really Save

Part 2: Understand Your True AWS Costs and What needed to Really Save

What are the activities and tasks that are going on behind the scenes or hiding in plain sight that we need to have operationalized processes for to achieve Real Saving against your True AWS Cost?

This is a daunting question because most organizations don’t really know how to even begin to get started.

Some Good News

For all of those that have been asked to spend a couple of days in a room with consultants as they put sticking notes on a wall and ask about your feelings - we've done that!!!!

Our team has over 20 years of collective AWS experience working through the various tasks associated with operating a mature enterprise AWS estate. Additionally we understand core programs like Migration Acceleration Program (MAP),Credits, and Pricing Plans. As consultants at heart we looked at the activities associated with each workstream and what the time on tasks would be to execute/manage “in the real” world. After looking at the “As-Is” Activities and Time on Task for It, we then “worked backwards” to think about the Art of the Possible and goals for Time on Tasks with a purpose build process application. We summed all of those up into a Real Cost Calculate and How and Where you need to do work to Really Save

Best news of all - We built that Art of the Possible Application - that FinOps Center

Once business users see the screen they can think about the processes or what additional things they would like to have happen. Once we had the core application, we could get the various constituents to coalesce around and engage with the process to drive efficiency.

Process As-IS with Native AWS Tooling Art of the Possible / To-Be with Purpose Built Application
New Workload Onboarding,Updating & Alignment to Financial Budgets

Account Vending

  1. Cloud Engineer gets request for New Account
  2. Cloud Engineers vend account via tools like Control Tower
  3. Product/Finance Team see new Account on CUR or Cost Explorer ~24hrs after initial resource billing

Resource or Tag Allocation

  • Cost Allocation Tags need to be Activated in Management Account
  • Cloud Engineer gets request for New Resource Deployment with Tags for Allocation
  • Resources with ARNs are Deployed with Tags
  • Enable SCP to force compliance to Tagging
  • Continue validation that Tags are correctly labeled

Time on Task -> .5 Hr per New/Updated Workload

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner

Account Vending

  • Cloud Engineer gets request for New Account
  • Cloud Engineers vend account via tools like Control Tower
  • Immediately align Account to Financial Budget Allocation and access to Product Teams via UI

Resource or Tag Allocation

  • Cost Allocation Tags need to be Activated in Management Account (Optional)
  • Product Owner Claims Resource/Service to Workload

Time on Task -> 0.10 Hr per New/Updated Workload

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner

Business Users Onboarding to be Informed and Act on AWS Spending

Cost Explorer Setup

  • Get information on which Users and Budgets are aligned to which Budgets/Financial Scope
  • Users Onboarded to AWS Identify Center
  • Bill Conductor Setup to Add Users to a Primary Account of their Financial Scope
  • Train users on how to use Cost Explorer

Time on Task -> 0.5 Hr per User/Budget

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, User

Budget Onboarding

  • Financial Budgets Onboarded (file or UI)

Users are Added By Role

  • Users are Provisioned to application
  • Users are Added to Financial Scope
  • Users are aligned to their Financial Scope

Spend Onboarding

  • AWS Account & Allocations are aligned to Budgets

Time on Task -> 0.10 Hr per User/Budget

Participants -> FinOps Team
Provide Management “Real-Time” Understanding of Spending vs Budget/Plan

Budget(s) Setup

  • Get information on which Users and Budgets are aligned to which Spending
  • Create AWS Budget base on Daily/Monthly Spending with the defined Scope for each users
  • Test with users that they are seeing right information
  • Inform internal Teams of Budgets that were setup
  • Create a Budget Report for Distribution (optional)
  • Update repeat many of the steps

Time on Task -> .5 Hrs Per Budget Change

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team

Budget Visability

  • Users see their Aligned Spending based on the Financial Scope

Time on Task -> .1 Hrs Per Budget Change

Participants -> FinOps Team
Integrated Business Intelligence and Generative-BI Capability to Drive Processes

Integrating BI and Generative-BI

  • Run the CUDOS Framework Workshop
  • Get information on which Users and Budgets are aligned to which Spending
  • Enable User-Based Rules and Manage which users have access to with AWS Accounts
  • Create Advanced Filters based on Financial Scope
  • Modify Dashboards for Various Roles and Distribute
  • Use IAM Rules to enable Amazon Q for users to their Accounts

Time on Task-> 2 Hrs One Time Setup of CUDOS, 4 Hrs IAM Setup for Q; .10 Hr to Update RLS for CUDOS & IAM For Amazon Q

Participants-> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team

Integrating BI and Generative-BI

  • Run the CUDOS Framework Workshop
  • CUDOS Framework inherits application Allocations/RLS
  • User have Amazon Q in QuickSight to interrogate spending

Time on Task -> 2 Hrs One Time Setup of CUDOS, 0.5 Hrs Amazon Q for FinOps Center

Participants -> Cloud Engineer
Workload Estimates Creation & Integration to Budgeted/Planned Spending

Create/Manage Workload Estimates

  • Use tool like AWS Pricing Calculator to Create Workload Estimates
  • Off-Platform management in a spreadsheet to add or subtract workload spending
  • Update Budgets with new spending

Time on Task -> 2 Hrs Per Workload & Budget

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner

Create/Manage Workload Estimates

  • Use tool like AWS Pricing Calculator to Create Workload Estimates
  • Monthly Estimate flow to Budget Scheduling
  • Update Budgets with new spending

Time on Task -> 0.1 Hrs Per Workload & Budget

Participants -> Product/Budget Owner
Monthly Budget Spending Approval/Validation

Monthly Budget Management

  • Off-Platform management in spreadsheet or application on how existing spending
  • Off-Platform approvals with management of expected spending by month
  • Provide Budgets to Cloud Engineers to add to AWS Budgets

Time on Task -> 2 Hrs Per Budget Change

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner, Management

Monthly Budget Management

  • Product Owner Schedules or Reschedule Monthly Spending based on current spending plus or minus new/rolloff workloads
  • Approval by Manager so that data is trusted when shared

Time on Task -> 0.25 Hrs Per Budget Change

Participants -> Product/Budget Owner, Management

Spending Approval and/or Dispute Resolution within a Billing Cycle to Impact Current Bill

Spend Approvals

  • Central Team Receives AWS Bill and via Tags/Cost Allocation, or AWS Account begins the manual process of create Chargebacks
  • Chargeback reports are sent to Product/Budget Owners
  • If there are disputes or concerns, changes made towards next month's bill
  • Cloud Engineering ReWork on Tags for Allocation

Time on Task -> 2 Hrs Per Month Per Budget Owner

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner, Management

Spend Approvals

  • Spending Chargeback distributed to Budget/Product Owners each Period (weekly) for approvals
  • If there are disputes or concerns, changes made towards this month's bill
  • Update AWS Account Allocation and/or push Claimed Resource Adoption

Time on Task -> 0.5 Hrs Per Month Per Budget Owner

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product/Budget Owner, Management

AWS Spending Program Management

Vendor Management Pricebook

  • Vendor Management creates a Pricebook in AWS Billing Conduct with Discount
  • Create Spreadsheet to Track Spending toward Pricing Agreement

Time on Task -> 4 Hrs One Time Setup Billing Conductor & 2 Hrs One Time Setup Spreadsheet

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team

MAP Management

  • Customers CCoE and Product Teams work with AWS or Partner to build business case for a MAP Project
  • Customer receives MAP Contract
  • Customer's Cloud Engineer works to validate that all MAP Cost Allocation Tags are placed on resources that are eligible for the contract
  • Customer creates works to identify the eligible resources to Track Spending towards achievement
  • Cloud Engineers/CCoE works to provide updates to the Product Team on spending and work towards Credits from MAP Dashboard in Master Payer
  • Customers work to validate that all Credits for achievement are on the AWS Bill

Time on Task -> 20 Hrs One Time Setup of Contract & Tagging & 8 Hrs One Time Setup Spreadsheet for Management Per Month

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team

Vendor Management Pricebook

  • Vendor Management creates a Pricebook in web application
  • Spend tracking via Amazon Q in QuickSight

Time on Task -> 0.25 Hrs One Time Setup

Participants -> Vendor Management, FinOps Team

MAP Management

  • MAP Contracts are setup
  • Budget Owners add Tagging to Resources/Services within the MAP Contract
  • Integrate with AWS System Manager to apply Tags
  • Amazon Q in QuickSight provides Business Users progress towards Spending Accrual
  • Credits can be applied to appropriate MAP Budgets

Time on Task -> 2 Hrs One Time Setup of Contract & Tagging

Participants -> Cloud Engineer, FinOps Team, Product Manager

Back