Services / Cloud spend management
Cloud spend management
We set up the management of your cloud bills, so every cost has an owner, waste is cut, and surprises are caught early. Your team runs it from there, or we run it for you each month if you prefer.
- Usual setup
- About 4 weekssmaller organisations
- Price
- See PricingTypical setup and monthly prices by size
- Optional
- We run it monthlyOr your team runs it.
Built on the recognised industry methods for managing technology and AI spend: the FinOps Framework, the FOCUS billing standard, ISO/IEC 19770 software asset management, and TBM.
Download the service brief (PDF)Why it needs managing, not just reporting
Most organisations can see their cloud bills as they arrive. Far fewer can answer the questions that follow: which team is that cost for, why has it jumped this month, and is it going up or down? Finance holds the bill, but a cloud bill does not name a team. Engineering knows the systems, but not which budget paid for them.
Without tags, a large share of the bill cannot be tied to a team. Oversized instances, idle load balancers and forgotten snapshots add cost without value every month, and surprise jumps arrive without warning. This service builds agreed rules with your finance and technology teams: every cloud cost sorted the same way, given an owner, and shown to the team that uses it. Your team can keep them running, or we do it for you each month.
Who it is for
| Size | Monthly cloud bill (all providers) | Cost sources tracked each month |
|---|---|---|
| Small | Under USD 50,000 | Up to 30 |
| Medium | USD 50,000 to 250,000 | Up to 60 |
| Large | Above USD 250,000 | Up to 100 per phase, one business unit at a time |
A cost source is one bill, export or contract we collect and check each month. We agree the number with you when you sign, and we deliver exactly that number. If we find more, you choose: we re-cost for the new number, or you keep the agreed number and choose which sources to leave out.
The steps, in order
- 1
Before we start
One or two calls on your cloud footprint, who owns the accounts and how you budget. Scope document, contract, confidentiality agreement and data-handling terms. Work starts when the scope is signed and the 50% setup deposit is paid.
- 2
Discovery and baseline (weeks 1 to 2)
Interviews with your finance and cloud leads; every cost source mapped across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud; billing exports checked; you sign a baseline confirming the list and total.
- 3
Ownership and tagging (weeks 2 to 3)
A workshop agrees the tag dictionary, naming rules and tag policy, and an owner for every account. Your cloud team switches the checks on, one pilot account first. With finance we agree how shared costs are split and build the first team reports.
- 4
Optimise (weeks 3 to 4)
Oversized and idle resources found, commitments checked, anomaly alerts and budget limits designed with your cloud lead and switched on by your team. A savings plan with owners, deadlines and estimated savings.
- 5
Handover (week 4)
After one review round you sign off the tag dictionary, allocation rules, team reports and savings plan. Team heads see how to read their report, and your team gets the monthly routine to run it themselves. If you would rather we run it, our optional monthly service takes over from here.
If you have had our cost review recently, we do not repeat it: we refresh its signed baseline with you and go straight on. The scope and price reflect the work already done.
The setup, week by week (smaller organisations)
Medium setups take about 6 to 8 weeks; Large in phases, one business unit or account group at a time. We never work inside your cloud accounts: your engineers make the changes.
What you receive
- 1
Discovery set
Maturity score sheet, cost table in the FOCUS layout, signed baseline.
- 2
Tag dictionary
Naming rules, allowed values and tag policy.
- 3
Showback reports
Each team's cloud costs, built on the agreed tagging and allocation rules.
- 4
Savings plan
Ranked opportunities with owners, deadlines and estimated savings, plus the design of your anomaly alerts and budget limits.
- 5
Monthly routine
The export schedule, report template, alert procedure and review calendar your team runs from. If you choose our monthly service, we run it: a report and updated team reports each month, and a review each quarter.
What we need from you
- People: a buyer who signs; a finance lead and a cloud lead; engineering team leads for the tagging workshops; team heads for the walkthroughs.
- Data: billing exports from each cloud provider, account structure, current tags, budgets and commitments, and a team list. Our data request list says exactly what and by which week.
- Only if you choose the monthly service: the agreed billing exports by the agreed day, and 30 minutes for the review call each month.
Price
The typical prices for this service, and what each one covers, are on our Pricing page. Your actual price depends on your needs and is agreed in writing before we start.
See typical pricesAfter setup your team can run it themselves, or we run it for you each month. The monthly service is optional.
How payment works
- Setup: 50% on signing; work starts once the scope is signed and this payment is made. 50% at sign-off of the completed setup.
- Monthly service, only if you choose it: billed monthly from the month after setup sign-off. The minimum term is 12 months; after that it runs month to month, and either side can end it with 3 months' notice.
Your data
You prepare and send the agreed data. Your work is done in its own workspace, and your files are kept as an encrypted set of files in a protected space that only that workspace can reach.
We use AI assistance in our work. Your confidential data is processed only on our own machines and is never sent to cloud AI services. On request, we delete everything at the end and give you a signed certificate of deletion.
Start with a conversation.
One call to understand what you spend on and what worries you. If an engagement fits, you get a written scope and price.
Book a first call