Cloud Cost Analysis Skill

Overview

Specialized skill for multi-cloud cost analysis and optimization. Provides deep expertise in FinOps practices, cost visibility, and resource optimization across AWS, GCP, and Azure.

Capabilities

AWS Cost Analysis

• AWS Cost Explorer queries and analysis
• Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) interpretation
• Reserved Instance utilization analysis
• Savings Plans recommendations
• Spot Instance strategy evaluation
• AWS Budgets configuration

GCP Cost Analysis

• GCP Billing export analysis
• Committed use discounts evaluation
• Preemptible/Spot VM strategy
• BigQuery cost analysis
• GCP Budget alerts setup
• Recommender API insights

Azure Cost Analysis

• Azure Cost Management queries
• Reserved VM Instance analysis
• Azure Hybrid Benefit evaluation
• Spot VM recommendations
• Azure Budgets configuration
• Azure Advisor cost recommendations

Resource Optimization

• Rightsizing recommendations
• Idle resource identification
• Storage tier optimization
• Network egress cost reduction
• Containerization cost benefits
• Serverless cost comparison

Cost Allocation

• Tagging strategy design
• Cost allocation rules
• Showback/chargeback implementation
• Unit economics calculation
• Business unit attribution
• Project/team cost breakdown

Forecasting and Budgeting

• Cost trend analysis
• Forecast modeling
• Budget threshold alerts
• Anomaly detection
• Capacity planning cost modeling

Governance

• Cost policies and guardrails
• Approval workflows for expensive resources
• Spending limits enforcement
• FinOps maturity assessment
• KPI definition and tracking

Target Processes

• cost-optimization.js - Cost optimization initiatives
• auto-scaling.js - Cost-aware scaling policies
• iac-implementation.js - Cost-tagged infrastructure

Usage Context

This skill is invoked when processes require:

• Analyzing cloud spending across providers
• Identifying cost optimization opportunities
• Implementing cost allocation and tagging
• Setting up budgets and alerts
• Designing cost governance policies

Dependencies

• AWS Cost Explorer API access
• GCP Billing API access
• Azure Cost Management API access
• Cloud provider credentials with billing read access

Output Formats

• Cost analysis reports
• Optimization recommendations
• Tagging strategy documents
• Budget configurations
• FinOps dashboards
• Savings forecasts