Cloud Economist
When to Use
- Build TCO/NPV for cloud migration, repatriation, or hybrid
- Compare economic options — serverless vs containers vs VMs, managed vs self-run, regions
- Model commitment portfolio — coverage mix, term, break-even, flexibility value
- Analyze marginal cost of scale (next 10k users, new region, new product line)
- Quantify elasticity — cost at p50 vs p99 load; burst vs steady-state economics
- Prepare EA or commit negotiation inputs (volume curves, alternative structures)
- Run sensitivity analysis — usage growth, price changes, discount tiers, FX
- Link cloud spend to gross margin and unit economics for product/finance
- Evaluate multi-cloud cost of redundancy vs lock-in risk (economic framing)
- Support cloud-architect and enterprise-cloud-architect ADRs with cost models
When NOT to Use
- CUR analysis, idle resource cleanup, monthly budgets →
finops-analyst
- GL mapping, amortization, fixed assets →
compute-accounting-manager
- VPC design, landing zones, migration waves (technical) →
cloud-architect
- Org CCoE and EA program design →
enterprise-cloud-architect
- Cloud program portfolio, migration funding, executive EA sign-off →
vp-of-cloud
- Issue trees and operating model (non-cloud-specific) →
business-consultant
- Rack/GPU supply TCO in data centers →
data-center-compute-supply-efficiency
- Implement infra or purchase commits →
cloud-engineer, finops-analyst
- Deal-level sizing, RFP cost framing, build-vs-buy for a customer →
solutions-architect
Related skills
| Need |
Skill |
| VP cloud spend envelope and EA commercial frame |
vp-of-cloud |
| Operational FinOps and dashboards |
finops-analyst |
| Accounting and ledger |
compute-accounting-manager |
| Cloud architecture and WAF cost pillar |
cloud-architect |
| Enterprise EA and org FinOps |
enterprise-cloud-architect |
| Strategy consulting (general) |
business-consultant |
| Business model research |
business-model-researcher |
| Data platform TCO |
data-architect |
| AI/token cost programs |
ai-token-improvement-plan-engineer |
| Supply chain hardware TCO |
supply-chain-manager |
| Customer deal cost framing and option comparison |
solutions-architect |
Core Workflows
1. Scope and economic lens
Boundaries vs FinOps, architect, finance.
See references/cloud_economist_scope.md.
2. TCO and build vs buy
Cloud vs on-prem vs SaaS; NPV framework.
See references/tco_build_vs_buy.md.
3. Commitment portfolio economics
RI/SP/CUD/EA economic trade-offs.
See references/commitment_portfolio_economics.md.
4. Marginal cost and elasticity
Scale economics and demand shapes.
See references/marginal_cost_and_elasticity.md.
5. Scenario and sensitivity modeling
What-if and risk ranges.
See references/scenario_sensitivity_modeling.md.
6. Executive economic briefings
CFO and board narratives.
See references/executive_economic_briefings.md.
Outputs
- Economic model — assumptions, 3–5 year cash flows, NPV/IRR where applicable
- Option comparison table — cost, flexibility, risk, break-even
- Commitment recommendation memo — coverage, term, $ at risk, exit cost
- Sensitivity chart — drivers ranked by impact on spend or margin
- One-pager for ADR — recommended option with economic rationale
- Negotiation brief — volume forecast, walk-away, alternative structures
Principles
- Explicit assumptions — growth, utilization, discount, labor, egress
- Compare options at equal SLO — do not trade reliability without pricing risk
- Time value matters — NPV for multi-year commits and migrations
- Flexibility has value — price the option to scale down or pivot
- Hand off execution — economist models;
finops-analyst operationalizes
1---2name: cloud-economist3description: Guides cloud economics—TCO and NPV for cloud vs on-prem or SaaS, pricing-model trade-offs (on-demand, commitments, spot), commitment portfolio economics, marginal cost and elasticity, regional and service cost comparisons, migration and architecture option business cases, and CFO-ready economic narratives tied to growth drivers. Use when building cloud business cases, comparing architectural cost options, sizing EA or commit programs economically, modeling 3–5 year spend scenarios, or explaining margin impact of cloud choices—not for monthly bill optimization (finops-analyst), GL close (compute-accounting-manager), hands-on tagging/rightsizing (finops-analyst), technical reference architecture (cloud-architect), or general non-cloud strategy consulting (business-consultant).4---56# Cloud Economist78## When to Use910- Build **TCO/NPV** for cloud migration, repatriation, or hybrid11- Compare **economic options** — serverless vs containers vs VMs, managed vs self-run, regions12- Model **commitment portfolio** — coverage mix, term, break-even, flexibility value13- Analyze **marginal cost** of scale (next 10k users, new region, new product line)14- Quantify **elasticity** — cost at p50 vs p99 load; burst vs steady-state economics15- Prepare **EA or commit negotiation** inputs (volume curves, alternative structures)16- Run **sensitivity analysis** — usage growth, price changes, discount tiers, FX17- Link cloud spend to **gross margin** and unit economics for product/finance18- Evaluate **multi-cloud** cost of redundancy vs lock-in risk (economic framing)19- Support **cloud-architect** and **enterprise-cloud-architect** ADRs with cost models2021## When NOT to Use2223- CUR analysis, idle resource cleanup, monthly budgets → `finops-analyst`24- GL mapping, amortization, fixed assets → `compute-accounting-manager`25- VPC design, landing zones, migration waves (technical) → `cloud-architect`26- Org CCoE and EA program design → `enterprise-cloud-architect`27- Cloud program portfolio, migration funding, executive EA sign-off → `vp-of-cloud`28- Issue trees and operating model (non-cloud-specific) → `business-consultant`29- Rack/GPU supply TCO in data centers → `data-center-compute-supply-efficiency`30- Implement infra or purchase commits → `cloud-engineer`, `finops-analyst`31- Deal-level sizing, RFP cost framing, build-vs-buy for a customer → `solutions-architect`3233## Related skills3435| Need | Skill |36|---|---|37| VP cloud spend envelope and EA commercial frame | `vp-of-cloud` |38| Operational FinOps and dashboards | `finops-analyst` |39| Accounting and ledger | `compute-accounting-manager` |40| Cloud architecture and WAF cost pillar | `cloud-architect` |41| Enterprise EA and org FinOps | `enterprise-cloud-architect` |42| Strategy consulting (general) | `business-consultant` |43| Business model research | `business-model-researcher` |44| Data platform TCO | `data-architect` |45| AI/token cost programs | `ai-token-improvement-plan-engineer` |46| Supply chain hardware TCO | `supply-chain-manager` |47| Customer deal cost framing and option comparison | `solutions-architect` |4849## Core Workflows5051### 1. Scope and economic lens5253Boundaries vs FinOps, architect, finance.5455**See `references/cloud_economist_scope.md`.**5657### 2. TCO and build vs buy5859Cloud vs on-prem vs SaaS; NPV framework.6061**See `references/tco_build_vs_buy.md`.**6263### 3. Commitment portfolio economics6465RI/SP/CUD/EA economic trade-offs.6667**See `references/commitment_portfolio_economics.md`.**6869### 4. Marginal cost and elasticity7071Scale economics and demand shapes.7273**See `references/marginal_cost_and_elasticity.md`.**7475### 5. Scenario and sensitivity modeling7677What-if and risk ranges.7879**See `references/scenario_sensitivity_modeling.md`.**8081### 6. Executive economic briefings8283CFO and board narratives.8485**See `references/executive_economic_briefings.md`.**8687## Outputs8889- **Economic model** — assumptions, 3–5 year cash flows, NPV/IRR where applicable90- **Option comparison table** — cost, flexibility, risk, break-even91- **Commitment recommendation memo** — coverage, term, $ at risk, exit cost92- **Sensitivity chart** — drivers ranked by impact on spend or margin93- **One-pager for ADR** — recommended option with economic rationale94- **Negotiation brief** — volume forecast, walk-away, alternative structures9596## Principles9798- **Explicit assumptions** — growth, utilization, discount, labor, egress99- **Compare options at equal SLO** — do not trade reliability without pricing risk100- **Time value matters** — NPV for multi-year commits and migrations101- **Flexibility has value** — price the option to scale down or pivot102- **Hand off execution** — economist models; `finops-analyst` operationalizes
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