FinOps Glossary of Terms
Introduction
Version 5.0 offers a comprehensive filter glossary for dashboards and billing inventory that categorizes, organizes, and tracks costs across multi-cloud environments. The platform-specific filters utilize platform-defined attributes for efficient cost management.
These attributes are shown in both multi-cloud and cloud provider-specific dashboards, enabling users to manage their accounts effectively.
Platform-Specific Filters
Platform-defined attributes used to categorize, organize, and track costs across multi-cloud environments.
Attribute (as Shown in MULTI CLOUD Dashboards) | Attribute ( as Shown in Cloud Provider Specific Dashboards) | Description | Filter Type | Possible Values (Examples) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Account Status | Account Status | Indicates whether a cloud account is active, inactive, or Not-Onboarded within the platform. | Platform | Active, Inactive, Not-Onboarded, Retired |
Cloud Account Tag Key | Cloud Account Tag Key | Represents custom metadata labels applied at the cloud account level for cost tracking. | Platform | User-defined tag keys (Project, Department, Environment) |
Cloud Account Tag Value | Cloud Account Tag Value | The value assigned to a cloud account tag key, defining specific categorization. | Platform | User-defined tag key values pairs (Department : Marketing, Environment : Production) |
Tenant Tag Key | Tenant Tag Key | Represents metadata tags used for tracking costs in the platform’s multi-tenant model. | Platform | User-defined tenant tag keys |
Tenant Tag Key Value | Tenant Tag Key Value | The value associated with a tenant tag key. | Platform | User-defined tenant tag key and its values |
Resource Category | AWS – Usage Type Azure – Meter GCP – SKU Description OCI – SKU Name | AWS - Usage Type: Categorizes cloud resources meters into predefined groups for cost tracking. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS - UsageType; Azure – Meter Name ; GCP – SKU Description; OCI – SKU Name | Platform | BoxUsage:t2.medium, Azure VM protected instances etc. |
Tag Status | Tag Status | Identifies whether a resource has proper tagging or is missing key metadata. | Platform | Tagged, Untagged |
Time Range | N/A | Enables users to select time period to retrieve the data. This has many presets for easy consumption as well as well as multiple modes to help retrieve based on usage charge period ( Calendar Mode), Billing charge period ( Billing Mode) and Fiscal charge period ( Fiscal Mode). Also allows custom time range in calendar mode. | Platform | Calendar Mode ( Charge Period): Many presets from today, yesterday…previous 3 years and custom time range. Fiscal Mode: Only Presets , no custom range. Fiscal months, quarters, half year and years. Billing Mode ( Billing Period) Presets at Monthly granularity. Current month, Previous month, previous 3 months, Current Quarter, Previous Quarter. |
Granularity | Granularity | N/A | Platform | Day, Month, Year |
Cloud Provider | Cloud Provider | A Provider is an entity that makes the resources or services available for purchase. It is commonly used for cost analysis and reporting scenarios. | FOCUS | AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI |
Multi-Cloud FOCUS Filters
Filters aligned with the FOCUS FinOps framework, providing a standardized approach to cost and resource tracking across multi-cloud environments.
Attribute (as Shown in MULTI CLOUD Dashboards) | Attribute ( as Shown in Cloud Provider Specific Dashboards) | Description | Filter Type | Possible Values (Examples) | Use Cases & Insights |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Billing Currency | Billing Currency | Billing currency is an identifier that represents the currency that a charge for resources or services was billed in. Billing Currency is commonly used in scenarios where costs need to be grouped or aggregated. | FOCUS | USD, INR,AUD, CAD etc | N/A |
Cost Metrics | Cost Metrics ( Values depend on dashboard type – see values) | N/A | N/A | Multi Cloud (FOCUS) – Billed Cost, List Cost, Effective Cost, Contracted Cost AWS: Unblended, NetUnblended, Amortized, Net Amortized, List Cost, Contracted Cost Azure: Actual Cost, Amortized Cost , Retail Cost, Contracted Cost GCP : Cost, Effective Cost, List Cost, Contracted Cost OCI: Cost, Attributed Cost, Contracted. See Appendix B for definitions | N/A |
Availability Zone | AWS - Availability Zone Azure - Availability Zone GCP – Zone OCI – N/A. | An availability zone is a provider-assigned identifier for a physically separated and isolated area within a Region that provides high availability and fault tolerance. Availability Zone is commonly used for scenarios like analyzing cross-zone data transfer usage and the corresponding cost based on where resources are deployed. Mapping in Cloud Providers Specific Dashboards: AWS - Availability Zone; Azure - Availability Zone ; GCP - Zones ; OCI - Availability Domain. OCI: For OCI, Availability Zone is not yet processed. For Azure, it is available in specific cases. For AWS and GCP, it may be supported. | FOCUS | us-east-1a, eu-west-3b, ap-south-1c | Engineering & FinOps: Optimize cost by distributing workloads across lower-cost AZs. |
Charge Category | AWS - Charge Type Azure - Charge Type GCP - Cost Type OCI - N/A | A Charge Category is the highest level classification for the type of charge that the billing row represents. The Charge Category is commonly used to identify prepaid purchases separately from usage-based charges or to separate charges that may require special handling from regular usage. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS - Charge Type; Azure - Charge Type ; GCP - Cost Type ; OCI - N/A | FOCUS | Adjustment, Purchase, Tax, Usage. Each Category for easy of use it is further broken down by what these would be called in Cloud Provider. Example: Adjustment in AWS has values Credit, Refund. Breakdown of each mapping is provided in the table in Appendix A. | Finance & Procurement: Analyze cost breakdown by category for budgeting. |
Pricing Category | AWS –Purchase Option Azure – Pricing Model GCP – N/A OCI - N/A | Pricing Category describes the pricing model used for a charge at the time of use or purchase. It can be useful for distinguishing between charges incurred at the list unit price (on-demand) or a reduced price (Spot, Reservation, etc.) and exposing optimization opportunities, like increasing commitment-based discount coverage. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS – Product/Purchase Option ( Purchase Option) ; Azure – Pricing Model ; GCP – N/A; OCI - N/A | FOCUS | On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, Savings Plan | Procurement: Choose the most cost-effective pricing model based on past trends. |
Publisher | AWS – Legal Entity Azure –Publisher Name GCP – Seller Name OCI - N/A | A Publisher is an entity that produces the resources or services that were purchased. It is commonly used for cost analysis and reporting scenarios. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS – Legal Entity ; Azure –Publisher Name ; GCP – Seller Name; OCI - N/A | FOCUS | Amazon Web Services, Inc; Microsoft, Google, AppDynamics, Inc. | Finance & Leadership: Compare cloud provider costs for vendor negotiation. |
Region ID | AWS – Region ID Azure – Location GCP – Location OCI – Region ID | A Region ID is a provider-assigned identifier for an isolated geographic area where a resource is provisioned, or a service is provided. The region is commonly used for scenarios like analyzing cost and unit prices based on where resources are deployed. Mapping in Cloud Providers : AWS – Region ID; Azure –Resource Location/Location; GCP – Region/Location.Region; OCI - Region | FOCUS | us-east-1, eu-west-2, ap-south-1 | Leadership & Engineering: Optimize footprint by evaluating regional costs. |
Service Name | AWS - Product Code Azure -Consumed Service GCP – Service OCI - Service | A service represents an offering that can be purchased from a provider (e.g., AmazonEC2,Microsoft.Compute). A service offering can include various types of usage or other charges. For example, a cloud database service may include compute, storage, and networking charges. The Service Name is a display name for the offering that was purchased. The Service Name is commonly used for scenarios like analyzing aggregate cost trends over time and filtering data to investigate anomalies. Mapping in cloud provider - AWS: Product Code; Azure : Consumed Service ; GCP - Service; OCI - Service | FOCUS | AmazonEC2, Microsoft.Compute, GoogleCloudSQL, OCICompute | FinOps & Engineering: Identify cost distribution per service across providers. |
SKU ID | AWS -Product SKU Azure -SKU ID GCP – SKU ID OCI – Product SKU | A SKU ID is a unique identifier that defines a provider-supported construct for organizing properties that are common across one or more SKU Prices. SKU ID can be referenced on a catalog or price list published by a provider to look up detailed information about the SKU. The composition of the properties associated with the SKU ID may differ across providers. Some providers may not support the SKU construct and instead associate all such properties directly with the SKU Price. SKU ID is commonly used for analyzing cost based on SKU-related properties above the pricing constructs. Mapping in cloud provider - AWS: Product SKU; Azure : SKU Id; GCP – SKU Id; OCI – Product SKU | FOCUS | Provider-specific SKU values | Procurement: Validate pricing for invoice and chargeback accuracy. |
Tag Key | Tag Key | A metadata label used to categorize cloud resources for cost tracking. | FOCUS | User-defined tag keys Tag Key is Owner, Environment, Department, Application | FinOps & Engineering: Group resources by project, department, or business unit. |
Tag Value | Tag Value | The value assigned to a Resource Tag Key, defining specific categorization. | FOCUS | User-defined tag values Tag Key is Owner and Value is UserName | Procurement & Engineering: Track department-level spending accurately. |
Cloud Provider-Specific Filters
Filters that are unique to AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI and follow the respective cloud provider's billing terminology. These are available in the Multi-Cloud Dashboard as well and can be used to filter data for that cloud provider.
Attribute (as Shown in MULTI CLOUD Dashboards) | Attribute ( as Shown in Cloud Provider Specific Dashboards) | Description | Filter Type | Possible Values (Examples) | Use Cases & Insights |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Billing Entity (AWS Only) | Billing Entity (AWS Only) | Identifies whether the charge is from AWS Marketplace or an AWS service. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS Only) | AWS Marketplace, AWS Service Charges | Finance: Separate AWS Marketplace expenses from core AWS service costs. |
Operation (AWS Only) | Operation (AWS Only) | Represents an AWS API operation that triggered the charge. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS Only) | RunInstances, CreateVolume, DataTransfer-Out | Engineering: Identify cost spikes from specific AWS operations. |
Product Family (AWS Only) | Product Family (AWS Only) | Represents a broad AWS service category, such as Compute, Storage, or Database. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS Only) | Compute, Storage, Database, Analytics | Leadership: Identify the highest-spending AWS service category. |
Pricing Purchase Option (AWS Only) | Pricing Purchase Option (AWS Only) | How an AWS service was purchased (Upfront, Partial, or No Upfront). | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS Only) | All Upfront, Partial Upfront, No Upfront | Finance & Procurement: Analyze upfront vs. partial reserved instance purchases. |
Service Code (AWS Only) | Service Code (AWS Only) | A unique AWS service identifier used for billing. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS Only) | AmazonEC2, AmazonS3, AWSLambda | FinOps & Procurement: Identify AWS services consuming the most cost. |
Meter Sub Category (Azure Only) | Meter Sub Category (Azure Only) | Further breakdown of Azure service usage, such as VM tiers or storage classes. | Cloud Provider Specific (Azure Only) | Standard, Premium, HDD, SSD | Engineering: Optimize Azure service tiers for cost savings. |
Resource Group (Azure Only) | Resource Group (Azure Only) | Logical grouping of Azure resources for cost allocation. | Cloud Provider Specific (Azure Only) | Rg-1, rg-2 | Finance: Allocate Azure costs per project or business unit. |
Additional Fields (Multi-Cloud FOCUS and Cloud Provider-Specific)
These filters provide extra metadata to enhance cloud billing and usage analysis across multi-cloud environments. These are available under the Additional Fields option in Filters and Group Bys. Many of them are cloud-specific but have been defined as additional fields as these are less frequently used.
Attribute (as Shown in MULTI CLOUD Dashboards) | Attribute ( as Shown in Cloud Provider Specific Dashboards) | Description | Filter Type ( applies to one specific or all clouds) | Possible Values (Examples) | Use Cases & Insights |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attachment Type (AWS Only) | Attachment Type (AWS Only) | Defines the type of attachment for AWS resources (e.g., network interfaces, volumes). | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Network Interface, EBS Volume, IAM Role | Engineering: Track how resources are attached to instances. |
Benefit Name (Azure Only) | Benefit Name (Azure Only) | The name of an Azure cost-saving benefit, such as Reserved Instances or Savings Plans. | Cloud Provider Specific (Azure) | Azure RI, Azure Savings Plan | Procurement: Track Azure cost benefits applied to cloud spend. |
Charge Frequency | AWS - Bill Type Azure – Billing Frequency GCP - N/A OCI - N/A | Charge Frequency indicates how often a charge will occur. Along with the charge period related columns, the Charge Frequency is commonly used to understand recurrence periods (e.g., monthly, yearly), forecast upcoming charges, and differentiate between one-time and recurring fees for purchases. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS - Bill Type; Azure - Billing Frequency ; GCP - N/A ; OCI - N/A | FOCUS | Hourly, Monthly, Annual | Finance: Analyze recurring vs. one-time charges. |
Commitment Discount Category | N/A | Commitment Discount Category indicates whether the commitment-based discount identified in the CommitmentDiscountId column is based on usage quantity or cost (aka “spend”). Values: Spend , Usage Example: Savings plan in AWS and Azure are Spend based discounts vs Reservations which are Usage Based. | FOCUS | Spend, Usage | Finance: Track cost savings based on commitments. |
Commitment Discount ID | AWS - Savings Plan/ Reservation ARN Azure - Benefit ID GCP - N/A OCI - N/A | A Commitment Discount ID is the identifier assigned to a commitment-based discount by the provider. Commitment Discount ID is commonly used for scenarios like chargeback for commitments and savings per commitment-based discount. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS - Savings Plan/Reservation ARN; Azure - Benefit Id ; GCP - N/A ; OCI - N/A | FOCUS | Unique Discount ID values | Finance: Validate billing data against reserved commitment records. |
Commitment Discount Type | Not Available | Commitment Discount Type is a provider-assigned name to identify the type of commitment-based discount applied. Filter Values: Savings Plan , Reserved Instances ( RI) | FOCUS | Savings Plan, Reserved Instances(RI) | Procurement: Optimize upfront cost commitments. |
Consumed Unit | AWS - Pricing Unit Azure - Unit of Measure GCP - Usage Unit OCI - Usage Unit | The Consumed Unit represents a provider-specified measurement unit indicating how a provider measures usage of a given SKU associated with a resource or service. Consumed Unit complements the Consumed Quantity metric. It is often listed at a finer granularity or over a different time interval when compared to Pricing Unit (complementary to Pricing Quantity), and focuses on resource and service consumption, not pricing and cost. Mapping in Cloud Providers: AWS - Pricing Unit; Azure - Unit of Measure/Unit Type(CSP) ; GCP - Usage Unit ; OCI - Usage Unit | FOCUS | GB, vCPU-Hours, Requests, IOPS | Engineering: Analyze service usage based on measured units. |
Database Engine (AWS Only) | Database Engine (AWS Only) | Specifies the type of database engine for AWS RDS and similar services. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Aurora | Engineering: Track cloud database usage trends. |
Deployment Option (AWS Only) | Deployment Option (AWS Only) | Identifies the deployment model for AWS services. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Single-AZ, Multi-AZ, Serverless | Engineering: Optimize deployment models for cost-efficiency. |
Instance Type (AWS Only) | Instance Type (AWS Only) | The compute instance type used in AWS services. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | t3.medium, m5.large, c5.xlarge | Procurement: Analyze compute instance utilization. |
Operating System (AWS Only) | Operating System (AWS Only) | Identifies the OS type for virtual machines and compute services. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Windows, Linux, Red Hat, SUSE | Finance: Track OS-based licensing costs. |
Plan Name (Azure Only) | Plan Name (Azure Only) | Marketplace Plan Name | Cloud Provider Specific (Azure) | Private, Standard, Per Node etc | Finance & Procurement: Compare costs across Azure pricing models. |
Publisher Type (Azure Only) | Publisher Type (Azure Only) | Defines the type of publisher in Azure Marketplace transactions. | Cloud Provider Specific (Azure) | Microsoft, Third-party ISV | Finance: Track marketplace expenses. |
Reservation Start Time ( AWS Only) | Reservation Start Time ( AWS Only) | The start date and time of a Reserved Instance or Savings Plan. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Timestamp values (YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss) | Finance: Track when reserved savings begin. |
Reservation End Time (AWS Only) | Reservation End Time (AWS Only) | The end date and time of a Reserved Instance or Savings Plan. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Timestamp values (YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss) | Procurement: Plan for renewal or modifications. |
Reservation Modification Status (AWS Only) | Reservation Modification Status (AWS Only) | Used to filter or show whether the RI lease was modified or if it is unaltered. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | N/A | N/A |
Storage Class (AWS Only) | N/A | The storage tier used for an AWS storage service. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Standard, Infrequent Access, Glacier, Deep Archive | Finance: Optimize storage cost allocation. |
Tenancy (AWS Only) | N/A | Defines whether an AWS EC2 instance runs on shared or dedicated hardware. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | Shared, Dedicated, Host | Procurement: Optimize costs based on tenancy options. |
Transfer Destination (AWS Only) | N/A | The target destination of a data transfer operation. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | S3, EC2, CloudFront, VPC Peering | Networking: Analyze inter-region and inter-service data transfer costs. |
Transfer Source (AWS Only) | N/A | The origin source of a data transfer operation. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | S3, EC2, CloudFront, Direct Connect | Finance: Identify cost-heavy data transfer operations. |
Volume API Name (AWS Only) | N/A | Represents the API used to provision storage volumes in AWS. | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | CreateVolume, ModifyVolume, DeleteVolume | Engineering: Track volume provisioning activity. |
Volume Type (AWS Only) | N/A | Identifies the AWS storage volume type (EBS). | Cloud Provider Specific (AWS) | gp2, gp3, io1, st1, sc1 | Engineering: Optimize storage performance and cost. |
Appendix A – Charge Category Definitions
Charge Category Mapping by Cloud Provider
Adjustment
Cloud Provider | Charge Type | Description |
---|---|---|
AWS | Credit | Financial credit applied due to SLAs, promotions, or negotiated discounts. |
AWS | Refund | Reimbursement for incorrect billing or overcharges. |
GCP | COMMITTED_USAGE_DISCOUNT | Discount applied for committed usage agreements. |
GCP | COMMITTED_USAGE_DISCOUNT_DOLLAR_BASE | Spend-based committed use discount. |
GCP | DISCOUNT | Credits earned after reaching a contractual spending threshold. |
GCP | FREE_TIER | Credits applied for free-tier usage of services. |
GCP | PROMOTION | Promotional credits such as free trials or marketing campaign incentives. |
GCP | RESELLER_MARGIN | Discounts earned by resellers on every eligible line item. |
GCP | SUBSCRIPTION_BENEFIT | Credits earned for long-term subscription commitments. |
GCP | SUSTAINED_USAGE_DISCOUNT | Automatic discounts applied for long-term Compute Engine usage. |
GCP | CREDIT_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED | Unclassified credit applied to the account. |
GCP | FEE_UTILIZATION_OFFSET | Cost offsets related to specific billing mechanisms. |
GCP | SPENDING_BASED_DISCOUNT | Credits provided for reaching spending milestones. |
GCP | rounding_error | Adjustments applied to correct minor rounding discrepancies. |
Purchase
Cloud Provider | Charge Type | Description |
---|---|---|
AWS | Fee | General fees associated with AWS services. |
AWS | SavingsPlanUpfrontFee | Upfront cost for purchasing an AWS Savings Plan. |
AWS | SavingsPlanRecurringFee | Recurring fee for maintaining an AWS Savings Plan. |
AWS | RIFee | Fees for purchasing Reserved Instances. |
AWS | SupportFee | AWS Support Plan fees. |
Azure | Purchase | Charges related to Azure services and third-party marketplace products. |
GCP | Commitment | Cost incurred for signing committed use contracts. |
Tax
Cloud Provider | Charge Type | Description |
---|---|---|
AWS | Tax | Taxes applied to AWS services based on jurisdiction. |
Azure | Tax | Taxes charged on Azure usage based on location and compliance regulations. |
GCP | Tax | Government taxes applied on GCP services. |
Usage
Cloud Provider | Charge Type | Description |
---|---|---|
AWS | Usage | Cost associated with regular usage of AWS services. |
AWS | SavingsPlanCoveredUsage | Usage covered under an existing AWS Savings Plan. |
AWS | SavingsPlanNegation | Cost adjustments related to Savings Plan calculations. |
AWS | DiscountedUsage | Usage that has received an applied discount. |
AWS | BundledDiscount | Discounts offered for bundling services together. |
AWS | PrivateRateDiscount | Discounts applied based on private pricing agreements. |
AWS | EdpDiscount | Enterprise Discount Program reductions. |
AWS | SppDiscount | Solution Provider Program discounts. |
AWS | DistributorDiscount | Discounts applied to AWS resellers. |
AWS | RiVolumeDiscount | Discounts given for purchasing Reserved Instances in bulk. |
AWS | UnusedReservation | Cost for unused Reserved Instances. |
AWS | UnusedSavingsPlan | Cost for unused Savings Plan capacity. |
Azure | Regular Usage | Standard charges incurred based on Azure service usage. |
GCP | Regular | Standard usage charges for GCP services. |
Appendix B
Multi Cloud Dashboard | Platform Database | Platform Database | UI Labels for cloud specific dashboards | UI Labels for cloud specific dashboards | UI Labels for cloud specific dashboards | UI Labels for cloud specific dashboards | UI Labels for cloud specific dashboards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Platform Vocabulary/Focus | Backend Cost Metric ID | Backend Cost Metric Name | AWS | Azure | Azure CSP | GCP | OCI |
Billed Cost | raw_cost | Billed Cost | Net Unblended Cost | Actual Cost | Actual Cost | Cost | Cost |
-- | raw_unblended_cost | Unblended Cost | Unblended Cost | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
-- | raw_amortized_cost | Amortized Cost | Amortized Cost | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Effective Cost | raw_effective_cost | Effective Cost | Net Amortized Cost | Amortized Cost | Effective Cost | Effective Cost | Missing (Roadmap) |
List Cost | raw_list_cost | List Cost | List Cost | Retail Cost | Retail Cost | List Cost | N/A |
-- | raw_attributed_cost | Attributed Cost | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Attributed Cost |
Contracted Cost | true_cost | True Cost | Contracted Cost | Contracted Cost | Contracted Cost | Contracted Cost | Contracted Cost |
Multi-Cloud:
- Billed Cost: The billed cost represents a charge serving as the basis for invoicing, inclusive of the impacts of all reduced rates and discounts while excluding the amortization of relevant purchases (one-time or recurring) paid to cover future eligible charges. This cost is denominated in the Billing Currency. The Billed Cost is commonly used to perform FinOps capabilities that require cash-basis accounting such as cost allocation, budgeting, and invoice reconciliation.
- List Cost: List Cost represents the cost calculated by multiplying the list unit price and the corresponding Pricing Quantity. List Cost is denominated in the Billing Currency and is commonly used for calculating savings based on various rate optimization activities, by comparing it with Billed Cost and Effective Cost.
- Effective Cost: Effective Cost represents a cost inclusive of the impacts of all reduced rates and discounts, augmented with the amortization of relevant purchases (one-time or recurring) paid to cover future eligible charges. The amortized portion included should be proportional to the Pricing Quantity and the time granularity of the data.
- Contracted Cost: Contracted Cost is denominated in the Billing Currency and is commonly used for calculating savings based on negotiation activities and Billing Plans applied in the platform, by comparing it with List Cost. THIS IS THE TRUE COST that the customer get after all mark up, discount rules and charge allocations are applied through platform BillOps module.
Refer to standard descriptions for cloud provider specific terminology.
Updated 27 days ago