Kaitlyn Hickman
Program Operations Leader
SpinSys
Using MDACA for Cost Optimization
If you have been working with cloud solutions for a while, you may know that utilizing cloud services can be very beneficial but also become extremely costly very quickly. With this in mind, the Multiplatform Data Acquisition, Collection, and Analytics (MDACA) team has developed a solution that helps you both manage cost and analyze where your dollars are going and how to make your budget work best for you. The MDACA Cloud Cost Optimization Decision Support System (CCO DSS) provides top-to-bottom analysis of spend, finds hidden costs associated with cloud utilization and provides helpful insights to support cost decisions, as well as a framework for implementation.
Cost Optimization Tactics
MDACA Cost Optimization Process
A significant advantage to using MDACA for cost optimization is the use of the Cost Optimization Review process, which follows six steps to continually analyze and improve cost, while leveraging specific tactics to support the advancement through the process. The six-step continuous process is:
Step 1: Define
Using the MDACA CCO DSS tool, you can fully define, configure and customize your costing, while utilizing advanced workflow capabilities. This allows for the capture of information and tracking of analyses as key components of governance.
Step 2: Discovery
Define the project and stages to be leveraged in the ecosystem, and capture additional costs such as licenses. This step is where you lay everything out and ensure you have the full picture of your enterprise resources.
Step 3: Analysis
After capturing business objectives, review and define the governance policies to prepare for coordination, collaboration and communication of those objectives across the organization. This step is essential to methodically assess the effectiveness of implementing each objective to achieve cost optimization goals.
Step 4: Cost Optimization Review Board
Similar to a Change Control Board (CCB), this collaborative step leverages the CCO tools to track and manage decisions related to cost optimization. It supports the review of policies and governance, as well as activities supporting cost reduction. This board requires the establishment of repeatable and managed processes, as well as accountability, in order to advance processes.
Step 5: Action Plans
Develop and document action plans to track tasks, timelines, responsible parties, risks and other relevant aspects. This step utilizes the unique “one stop shop” functionality of the CCO DSS in support of enterprise-wide cost optimization initiatives.
Step 6: Manage and Execute
Integrate with a wide range of data sources, including leveraging cloud provider APIs, while maintaining flexibility by supporting additional data ingestion based on business needs. The MDACA CCO DSS supports enterprises in the full lifecycle management of costs associated with cloud hosting and utilization.
This continuous process utilizes tactics developed by MDACA to fully understand every detail of where you are accruing spend and helps you develop a simple, repeatable set of processes to keep your costs low while fully supporting your core cloud capabilities. Along with the six-step process, MDACA uses additional tools to support the analysis of spend to assist in a deeper understanding of your business and how it uses the cloud.
Decision Support System
The DSS helps facilitate business and organizational decision making activities, while also supporting management and documenting associated actions. The tool was developed to support organizational processes and planning at all levels. It uses data-driven triggers, customer-specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a well architected framework, business needs and cost/budget APIs in harmony to do exactly what it is named for — supporting business decisions.
Advanced Analytics
Advanced Analytics provides both basic and advanced analytics tools. It supports integration with traditional Business Intelligence (BI) tools and avails the data model to traditional SQL query tools, which puts the power in financial analysts’ hands. This tool helps in the management and execution of cost optimization and provides key insights to support decision-making.
Flexibility & Configurability
MDACA allows your costing to be flexible and configurable. This lets analysts leverage low-code platforms, which allows for ease of configuration and extensibility tailored to your business needs. It also uses federated data sources, which allows for easy integration of different data sources specific to an individual business.
If you have been looking for an effective and efficient solution to complement your cloud spend strategy, MDACA has numerous options to support your business and allow you to uncover budget efficiencies and a better understanding of how to maximize potential. Contact us today and see how we can help your business!
