Perform cost modeling

Performing cost modeling is vital to ensure that your resource selection aligns with both business needs and budgetary constraints. By accurately forecasting costs and usage under different scenarios, organizations can reduce waste and select the most cost-effective combinations of resource type, size, and number.

Best Practices

• Utilize AWS Pricing Tools: Leverage AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate costs associated with various service configurations. This allows you to visualize potential costs based on chosen resources and facilitates better decision-making.

Supporting Questions

• Have you analyzed past workload usage patterns to inform current resource selection?

Roles and Responsibilities

• Cloud Architect: Responsible for designing the cloud infrastructure and selecting appropriate resource types and sizes based on cost modeling.
• Financial Analyst: Analyzes the financial implications of resource decisions and ensures alignment with budgetary goals.

Artifacts

• Cost Model Report: A detailed document that outlines the predicted costs associated with various workload scenarios, including historical usage data and forecasting assumptions.
• Resource Utilization Dashboard: A dashboard that displays real-time data on resource utilization, helping to identify over-provisioned or under-utilized resources.

Cloud Services

AWS

• AWS Cost Explorer: Allows for analysis of historical spending and usage patterns, aiding in resource selection and cost management.
• AWS Budgets: Enables tracking of costs against budget targets, alerting when spending is expected to exceed set thresholds.

Question: How do you meet cost targets when you select resource type, size and number?
Pillar: Cost Optimization (Code: COST)