5 Mastering Cost Allocation Techniques

 

This chapter covers

  • Understanding and implementing different cost allocation models, including direct, shared, and fixed allocation
  • Leveraging AWS Cost Explorer for detailed cost analysis and allocation
  • Integrating cost data with asset inventory and tagging strategies
  • Setting up and utilizing AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR) for advanced cost allocation
  • Building custom dashboards with Amazon QuickSight for visualizing cost allocation data
  • Understanding FOCUS and its importance in multi-cloud environments

In the context of FinOps, cost allocation is a critical technique used to understand, distribute, and manage cloud costs effectively. As organizations scale their cloud usage, it becomes increasingly important to assign cloud expenses to the correct teams, projects, or departments. This chapter will guide you through various cost allocation models, strategies, and techniques to help you gain full visibility into your cloud spending and build an effective financial management practice.

5.1 Exploring Cost Allocation Models

5.1.1 Direct Allocation

5.1.2 Shared Cost Allocation

5.1.3 Fixed Allocation

5.2 Leveraging AWS Cost Explorer for Cost Allocation

5.3 Advanced Cost Allocation with AWS Cost and Usage Report

5.3.1 Setting up AWS Cost and Usage Report

5.3.2 Understanding CUR Data Structure

5.3.3 Querying Cost and Usage Reports using Amazon Athena

5.3.4 Building FinOps Dashboards with AWS QuickSight

5.3.5 Exploring Cloud Intelligence Dashboards

5.4 FOCUS

5.5 Summary