Cloud Cost Optimization Dashboard

fig-A05_cost-tagging-workflow.svg

// Figure A05: 8-step tagging workflow — schema → tag enforcement → optimization

The FinOps Foundation defines three maturity stages. Each maps to specific tooling and process changes. The goal at every stage is accountability: knowing who spends what, and why.

Stage	Focus	Key Actions	Typical Time
Crawl	Visibility	Cost baseline, tagging schema, idle resource scan	0–30 days
Walk	Optimization	RI/Savings Plan purchase, right-sizing, budget alerts	30–90 days
Run	Automation	Predictive modeling, auto-scaling policies, showback	90+ days

Stage

Focus

Key Actions

Typical Time

Crawl

Visibility

Cost baseline, tagging schema, idle resource scan

0–30 days

Walk

Optimization

RI/Savings Plan purchase, right-sizing, budget alerts

30–90 days

Run

Automation

Predictive modeling, auto-scaling policies, showback

90+ days

If average CPU is below 40% over a 30-day baseline, the instance is oversized. Industry data shows 60–70% of cloud instances run at 2× required capacity.

fig-A06_finops-glossary.svg

// Figure A06: FinOps Glossary Hub — key terms for cloud cost optimization

Utilization Signal	Threshold	Action
CPU avg (30d)	< 40%	Downsize one size tier
Memory avg (30d)	< 50%	Review instance family
Network throughput	< 20% peak	Evaluate smaller ENI
Disk I/O	< 30% avg	Switch to lower-tier volume

Utilization Signal

Threshold

Action

CPU avg (30d)

< 40%

Downsize one size tier

Memory avg (30d)

< 50%

Review instance family

Network throughput

< 20% peak

Evaluate smaller ENI

Disk I/O

< 30% avg

Switch to lower-tier volume

Export CPU + memory metrics from CloudWatch / Azure Monitor / GCP Monitoring

Identify instances with < 40% avg CPU over 30 days

Test at target size before terminating original instance

Make one change at a time to attribute performance correctly

Set a monitoring alert on the new instance before closing the old one

Feature	Savings Plans	Reserved Instances
Flexibility	High — any instance family, OS, AZ	Low — specific instance type + AZ
Discount	Up to 72% vs on-demand	Up to 75% vs on-demand
Commitment	1-yr or 3-yr USD amount	1-yr or 3-yr specific instance
Best for	Baseline predictable workload	Stable critical production

Feature

Savings Plans

Reserved Instances

Flexibility

High — any instance family, OS, AZ

Low — specific instance type + AZ

Discount

Up to 72% vs on-demand

Up to 75% vs on-demand

Commitment

1-yr or 3-yr USD amount

1-yr or 3-yr specific instance

Best for

Baseline predictable workload

Stable critical production

Recommendation: Start with a Compute Savings Plan for baseline workload. Layer specific RIs for your most stable, highest-utilization instances.

Provider	Max Discount	Use Case
AWS EC2 Spot	60–91% off	Batch processing, CI/CD agents
Azure Spot	Up to 90% off	Data pipelines, rendering
GCP Spot / Preemptible	Up to 91% off	Non-production workloads

Provider

Max Discount

Use Case

AWS EC2 Spot

60–91% off

Batch processing, CI/CD agents

Azure Spot

Up to 90% off

Data pipelines, rendering

GCP Spot / Preemptible

Up to 91% off

Non-production workloads

Do NOT use spot for: databases, persistent APIs, any workload requiring consistent uptime.

Tier	Access	Cost	Retrieval Delay
Hot / Standard	Real-time	Baseline	None
Cool / Infrequent	Monthly	–40–60% storage	Hours
Archive / Cold	Quarterly	–70–80% storage	12–48 hours
Glacier / Deep Archive	Annual	–95% storage	Hours to days

Tier

Access

Cost

Retrieval Delay

Hot / Standard

Real-time

Baseline

None

Cool / Infrequent

Monthly

–40–60% storage

Hours

Archive / Cold

Quarterly

–70–80% storage

12–48 hours

Glacier / Deep Archive

Annual

–95% storage

Hours to days

Implement lifecycle policies to auto-transition: Hot → Cool (90d) → Cool → Glacier (1yr) → Glacier → Deep Archive (3yr)

Required Tag	Example	Purpose
Environment	production	Isolate prod vs. dev spend
Owner / Team	platform-eng	Chargeback by team
CostCenter	CC-12345	Finance allocation
Project	payments-api	Per-project visibility
ServiceName	postgres-main	Resource identification

Required Tag

Example

Purpose

Environment

production

Isolate prod vs. dev spend

Owner / Team

platform-eng

Chargeback by team

CostCenter

CC-12345

Finance allocation

Project

payments-api

Per-project visibility

ServiceName

postgres-main

Resource identification

Enforcement: Use SCPs or policies to block resource creation if mandatory tags are missing. Audit weekly with: aws resourcegroupstaggingapi get-resources

fig-A10_waste-checklist.svg

// Figure A10: 15-point waste detection checklist