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ops-cost-optimization

Structured workflow for cloud cost analysis and optimization including rightsizing, reserved capacity planning, and FinOps practices.

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
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Cost Optimization Workflow

This skill defines the structured process for cloud cost optimization. Use it for systematic cost analysis and data-driven optimization.

Cost Optimization Phases

| Phase | Focus | Output | |-------|-------|--------| | 1. Cost Visibility | Understand current spend | Cost breakdown | | 2. Anomaly Detection | Identify unusual spend | Anomaly report | | 3. Optimization Analysis | Find savings opportunities | Opportunities list | | 4. Risk Assessment | Evaluate optimization risks | Risk matrix | | 5. Implementation | Execute optimizations | Cost reduction | | 6. Monitoring | Track savings | Savings report |

Phase 1: Cost Visibility

Cost Breakdown Dimensions

Analyze costs across multiple dimensions:

| Dimension | Purpose | Tool | |-----------|---------|------| | Service | Which AWS services cost most | Cost Explorer | | Account | Which accounts spend most | Cost Explorer | | Tag | Cost by team/project/environment | Cost Allocation Tags | | Resource | Individual resource costs | Cost Explorer | | Time | Cost trends over time | Cost Explorer |

Cost Visibility Template

## Cost Visibility Report

**Period:** [Month YYYY]
**Total Spend:** $XX,XXX
**Budget:** $XX,XXX
**Variance:** [+/-X%]

### Cost by Service

| Service | Cost | % of Total | MoM Change |
|---------|------|------------|------------|
| EC2 | $X,XXX | XX% | +X% |
| RDS | $X,XXX | XX% | +X% |
| S3 | $X,XXX | XX% | +X% |
| Data Transfer | $X,XXX | XX% | +X% |
| Other | $X,XXX | XX% | +X% |

### Cost by Environment

| Environment | Cost | % of Total |
|-------------|------|------------|
| Production | $X,XXX | XX% |
| Staging | $X,XXX | XX% |
| Development | $X,XXX | XX% |

### Cost by Team

| Team | Cost | % of Total |
|------|------|------------|
| Platform | $X,XXX | XX% |
| API | $X,XXX | XX% |
| Data | $X,XXX | XX% |

Tagging Requirements

Minimum required tags for cost allocation:

| Tag | Purpose | Example | |-----|---------|---------| | Environment | Env separation | prod, staging, dev | | Team | Cost ownership | platform, api, data | | Service | Service identification | api-gateway, auth | | CostCenter | Financial allocation | CC-1234 |

Phase 2: Anomaly Detection

Anomaly Detection Rules

| Rule | Threshold | Alert | |------|-----------|-------| | Daily spend spike | >20% vs 7-day avg | Warning | | Service cost jump | >50% vs last month | Critical | | New service appears | Any new service >$100/day | Info | | Tag coverage drop | <95% coverage | Warning |

Anomaly Investigation

When anomaly detected:

  1. Identify the spike:

    • Which service/resource?
    • When did it start?
    • What changed?

  2. Check common causes:

    • New deployment
    • Traffic increase
    • Data growth
    • Misconfiguration
    • Forgotten resources

  3. Validate intentionality:

    • Expected growth?
    • Approved change?
    • One-time vs recurring?

Anomaly Report Template

## Cost Anomaly Report

**Detected:** YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
**Severity:** [Critical/Warning/Info]

### Anomaly Details

| Metric | Expected | Actual | Delta |
|--------|----------|--------|-------|
| Daily spend | $X,XXX | $X,XXX | +XX% |

### Investigation

**Root Cause:** [description]

**Contributing Factors:**
1. [Factor 1]
2. [Factor 2]

**Intentional:** [Yes/No]

### Action Required

- [ ] [Action if remediation needed]
- [ ] [Update budget if expected]

Phase 3: Optimization Analysis

Optimization Categories

| Category | Typical Savings | Effort | Risk | |----------|-----------------|--------|------| | Rightsizing | 20-40% | Low | Low | | Reserved Capacity | 30-70% | Medium | Low-Medium | | Spot Instances | 60-90% | Medium | Medium | | Storage Tiering | 20-50% | Low | Low | | Idle Resources | 100% | Low | None | | Data Transfer | 10-30% | Medium | Low |

Rightsizing Analysis

## Rightsizing Opportunities

### Underutilized Instances

| Instance | Type | Avg CPU | Avg Mem | Recommendation | Savings |
|----------|------|---------|---------|----------------|---------|
| api-prod-1 | m5.xlarge | 15% | 25% | m5.large | $70/mo |
| worker-2 | c5.2xlarge | 30% | 20% | c5.xlarge | $140/mo |

### Criteria Used

- CPU avg <40% over 14 days -> downsize candidate
- Memory avg <50% over 14 days -> downsize candidate
- Excluded: ASG instances (handled by ASG sizing)

Reserved Instance Analysis

## Reserved Instance Coverage

### Current Coverage

| Service | On-Demand | Reserved | Coverage |
|---------|-----------|----------|----------|
| EC2 | $5,000 | $3,000 | 38% |
| RDS | $2,000 | $0 | 0% |
| ElastiCache | $500 | $500 | 50% |

### RI Recommendations

| Resource Type | Term | Payment | Monthly Savings | Break-even |
|---------------|------|---------|-----------------|------------|
| 10x m5.large | 1 year | No upfront | $350 | 0 months |
| db.r5.xlarge | 1 year | Partial | $180 | 4 months |

### RI Purchase Criteria

- Stable workload for >80% of term
- Usage predictable for commitment period
- Consider convertible RIs for flexibility

Idle Resource Detection

## Idle Resources

### Unattached EBS Volumes

| Volume ID | Size | Cost/Month | Last Attached |
|-----------|------|------------|---------------|
| vol-xxx | 100GB | $10 | 90 days ago |
| vol-yyy | 500GB | $50 | Never |

### Unused Elastic IPs

| IP | Allocation ID | Associated | Cost/Month |
|----|---------------|------------|------------|
| x.x.x.x | eipalloc-xxx | No | $3.60 |

### Idle Load Balancers

| LB Name | Target Groups | Requests/Day | Cost/Month |
|---------|---------------|--------------|------------|
| old-api | 0 | 0 | $16.50 |

Phase 4: Risk Assessment

Optimization Risk Matrix

| Optimization | Risk Level | Potential Impact | Mitigation | |--------------|------------|------------------|------------| | Downsize instance | Low | Performance degradation | Monitor, quick rollback | | Purchase RI | Low-Medium | Unused commitment | Convertible RIs | | Spot instances | Medium | Instance interruption | Diversify, checkpointing | | Delete idle | None-Low | Lost data (if EBS) | Snapshot first | | Storage tiering | Low | Retrieval latency | Test access patterns |

Risk Assessment Checklist

  • [ ] Rollback plan documented
  • [ ] Performance baseline captured
  • [ ] Monitoring in place
  • [ ] Stakeholders informed
  • [ ] Timeline appropriate (not during peak)

Phase 5: Implementation

Implementation Priority

| Priority | Criteria | Examples | |----------|----------|----------| | Quick Wins | Low effort, no risk, immediate savings | Delete idle resources | | High Impact | Significant savings, manageable risk | RI purchases | | Medium Impact | Moderate savings, requires planning | Rightsizing | | Long-term | Architectural changes | Spot migration |

Implementation Checklist

  • [ ] Change request approved
  • [ ] Scheduled during low-traffic period
  • [ ] Rollback plan ready
  • [ ] Monitoring dashboards open
  • [ ] Communication sent to stakeholders

Phase 6: Monitoring

Savings Tracking

## Savings Report

**Period:** [Month YYYY]
**Target Savings:** $X,XXX
**Actual Savings:** $X,XXX
**Achievement:** XX%

### Savings by Category

| Category | Target | Actual | Status |
|----------|--------|--------|--------|
| Rightsizing | $500 | $450 | 90% |
| Reserved Instances | $2,000 | $2,100 | 105% |
| Idle Resources | $200 | $200 | 100% |

### Monthly Trend

| Month | Spend | Savings | Cumulative |
|-------|-------|---------|------------|
| Jan | $50,000 | $0 | $0 |
| Feb | $48,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Mar | $47,500 | $2,500 | $4,500 |

Anti-Rationalization Table

| Rationalization | Why It's WRONG | Required Action | |-----------------|----------------|-----------------| | "Small savings not worth it" | Small savings compound | Evaluate ALL opportunities | | "RIs are too risky" | RI risk is manageable | Analyze stable workloads | | "Dev doesn't need optimization" | Dev is often 30%+ of cost | Optimize ALL environments | | "Can't predict future usage" | Historical data helps | Use data-driven forecasting | | "Optimization takes too much time" | ROI on optimization is high | Invest in systematic process |

Pressure Resistance

| User Says | Your Response | |-----------|---------------| | "Just cut costs by 30%" | "Cannot proceed without analysis. Blind cuts cause outages. Will provide data-driven recommendations." | | "Skip the analysis, buy RIs" | "RI purchases require usage analysis. Wrong RIs waste money. Analysis required first." | | "Dev environment is fine as-is" | "Dev costs are significant. Optimization applies to all environments." |

Dispatch Specialist

For cost optimization tasks, dispatch:

Task tool:
  subagent_type: "ring:cloud-cost-optimizer"
  model: "opus"
  prompt: |
    COST ANALYSIS REQUEST
    Scope: [accounts/services to analyze]
    Period: [time range]
    Focus: [rightsizing/RI/general optimization]
    Constraints: [budget targets, risk tolerance]