Reconcile AWS Costs within the platform: Reallocation Rules Adjusting Costs In Unexpected Ways

Products

• CloudHealth

Issue/Introduction

 

Reallocation rules offer customization to view indirect costs by merging them into associated direct costs but many may not be showing the data as expected.  This document will go through how to diagnose whether or not a reallocation rule is the cause of a discrepancy.

 

Confirm Total Overall Costs Line Up

This is the most important step in the process as it not only confirms that all cost data is being collected correctly but that information provides confidences in the metrics.  This should be a quick process by following these steps:

• Request that the customer provides a grand total of all costs for the time period in question (generally it's easier to limit scope to a specific month if the customer is stating an issue that spans many)
• Reference that same data set within the platform with all filters and categorizations removed

The totals should line up. This is good news because it shows that all cost data is captured and the conversation is no longer about missing or added cost, but categorization.

 

Resolution

Review the Comparison and Confirm Reallocation Rules are Involved

Once totals are confirmed to line up without any additional filters or categorization, it's important to understand the relationship between perspectives and reallocation rules.

Perspectives vs Reallocation Rules

Both of these tools are used to customize the way data is viewed within the platform and work hand in hand in some situations.  A good way to think of them is the following:

• Perspectives are used for customizing DIRECT costs
• Reallocation rules are used for customizing INDIRECT costs

The main goal of reallocation rules is to move related INDIRECT costs to appropriate DIRECT costs and generally involve the use of a perspective as well.  If you believe the perspective categorization or filtering used in tandem with a reallocation rule may need to be reviewed, check perspective configuration details as well.

Report Data Does Not Match the Drilldown Data

This is the most common way a reallocation rule related discrepancy will show and will usually involve a perspective categorization as well. 

 

NOTE Charges that have been moved due to a cost reallocation rule WILL NOT show up in the drilldown total but will reflect in the tabular/graphical reports.

Since the overall totals have already proven to add up correctly we know that any cost discrepancy we see boils down to a difference in how the data is categorized.  The first step is to review the totals shown in the tabular section of the reports. 

Change Y-AXIS to "Cost before Reallocation (Original)"

To prove out that reallocation rules are indeed the reason behind the difference we see, you can change the Y-AXIS to reflect costs in the main reporting prior to reallocation rules being processed

Review Established Reallocation Rules

Now that it's been determined that reallocation rules are causing the difference, the next step is to understand exactly what costs are being shifted.  Navigate to SETUP > COST REALLOCATION to see what rules are currently configured.  Clicking "Manage" associated to them will give you more details on what the rules are actually doing.