Services / Cloud spend management
Cloud spend management
We set up the management of your cloud bills, so every cost has an owner who keeps track of it, waste is reduced, and unexpected spend is found early. After setup, your team runs it, 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.
We use 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 gone up 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 (labels on each cloud resource), a large share of the bill cannot be linked to a team. Oversized servers, unused load balancers and forgotten backup snapshots add cost every month without adding value, and sudden cost increases arrive without warning. This service sets up agreed rules with your finance and technology teams, so every cloud cost is sorted the same way, given an owner, and shown to the team that uses it. Your team can keep the rules 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 price the work again 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 about how much cloud you use, 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)
We interview your finance and cloud leads, map every cost source across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, and check the billing exports. You sign a baseline that confirms the list and the total.
- 3
Ownership and tagging (weeks 2 to 3)
In a workshop we agree the tag dictionary (the list of labels and what each one means), the naming rules, the tag policy and an owner for every account. Your cloud team switches the checks on, starting with one trial account. With finance we agree how shared costs are split, and we build the first team reports.
- 4
Optimise (weeks 3 to 4)
We find oversized and unused resources and check your commitments. Alerts for unusual costs and budget limits are designed with your cloud lead and switched on by your team. You get a savings plan with owners, deadlines and estimated savings.
- 5
Handover (week 4)
After one round of review you sign off the tag dictionary, the rules for sharing costs, the team reports and the savings plan. We show team heads 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 does this for you.
If you have had our cost review recently, we do not repeat it: we update its signed baseline with you and continue from there. The scope and price take account of the work already done.
The setup, week by week (smaller organisations)
Medium setups take about 6 to 8 weeks; Large setups are done in phases, one business unit or group of accounts 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
Team cost reports
Each team's cloud costs, built on the agreed tagging and allocation rules.
- 4
Savings plan
Savings opportunities in order of value, with owners, deadlines and estimated savings, plus the design of your alerts for unusual costs and your 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: you pay 50% when you sign, and work starts once this payment is made. You pay the other 50% when you sign off the completed setup.
- Monthly service, only if you choose it: billed each month, starting the month after you sign off the setup. The minimum term is 12 months. After that it continues month by month, and either side can end it with 3 months' notice.
Your data
You prepare and send the agreed data. We do your work in a separate workspace, and your files are kept encrypted, in protected storage 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.
In one call, tell us what you spend on and what worries you. If we can help, you get a written scope and price.
Book a first call