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TheSoftwareHouse (@thesoftwarehouse) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Tsh Optimizing Cloud Cost by thesoftwarehouse

Name: Tsh Optimizing Cloud Cost
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: TheSoftwareHouse

Tsh Optimizing Cloud Cost

Optimize cloud costs through resource rightsizing, tagging strategies, reserved instances, and spending analysis. Use when reducing cloud expenses, analyzing infrastructure costs, or implementing cost governance policies.

File contents

Cloud Cost Optimization

When to Use

Reducing cloud spending or meeting budget constraints
Right-sizing resources based on utilization
Implementing cost governance and tagging
Analyzing multi-cloud cost optimization opportunities

Pricing Model Decision

Workload Type	AWS	Azure	GCP	Savings
Steady-state (24/7)	Reserved Instances / Savings Plans	Reserved VMs	Committed Use	30-72%
Variable / burst	On-Demand + Auto-scaling	Pay-as-you-go	On-Demand	Baseline
Fault-tolerant batch	Spot Instances	Spot VMs	Preemptible	Up to 90%
Serverless / event-driven	Lambda	Functions	Cloud Functions	Pay-per-use

Storage Tiering Decision

Data Access Pattern	AWS	Azure	GCP
Frequent (hot)	S3 Standard	Hot	Standard
Infrequent (30+ days)	S3 Standard-IA	Cool	Nearline
Rare (90+ days)	S3 Glacier	Cold	Coldline
Archive (365+ days)	S3 Deep Archive	Archive	Archive

Rule: Implement lifecycle policies to auto-transition data between tiers.

Required Tags

Tag	Purpose	Example
`Environment`	Cost allocation by env	`production`, `staging`
`Project`	Cost allocation by project	`my-project`
`CostCenter`	Finance reporting	`engineering`
`Owner`	Contact for unused resources	`team@example.com`
`ManagedBy`	Track IaC vs manual	`terraform`

Reference: See references/tagging-standards.md for full standards.

Process

Audit current spend → Use Cost Explorer / Cost Management to identify top costs
Tag all resources → Apply required tags for cost allocation
Identify waste → Find unused EBS, EIPs, snapshots, idle instances
Right-size resources → Use Compute Optimizer / Advisor recommendations
Apply pricing models → Reserved/Committed for steady, Spot for batch
Implement tiering → Storage lifecycle policies, database right-sizing
Set up alerts → Budget alerts at 50%, 80%, 100% thresholds
Schedule reviews → Weekly cost review, monthly optimization

Checklist

Cost allocation tags applied to all resources
Unused resources deleted (EBS, EIPs, snapshots, idle instances)
Instances right-sized based on utilization metrics
Reserved capacity purchased for steady workloads (>70% utilization)
Spot/preemptible used for fault-tolerant workloads
Storage lifecycle policies configured
Budget alerts enabled (50%, 80%, 100%)
Cost anomaly detection enabled
Auto-scaling configured for variable workloads

Anti-Patterns

❌ Don't	✅ Do
Over-provision "just in case"	Right-size based on metrics, scale up if needed
Use On-Demand for steady workloads	Use Reserved/Committed for predictable usage
Store all data in hot tier	Implement lifecycle policies
Skip tagging	Tag everything for cost visibility
Review costs monthly	Review weekly, alert on anomalies

Tools

Provider	Tools
AWS	Cost Explorer, Cost Anomaly Detection, Compute Optimizer
Azure	Cost Management, Advisor
GCP	Cost Management, Recommender
Multi-cloud	CloudHealth, Cloudability, Kubecost

Reference Files

references/tagging-standards.md - Tagging conventions and enforcement

Related Skills

tsh-implementing-terraform-modules - For resource provisioning
tsh-designing-multi-cloud-architecture - For cloud selection

---name: tsh-optimizing-cloud-costdescription: Optimize cloud costs through resource rightsizing, tagging strategies, reserved instances, and spending analysis. Use when reducing cloud expenses, analyzing infrastructure costs, or implementing cost governance policies.---# Cloud Cost Optimization## When to Use- Reducing cloud spending or meeting budget constraints- Right-sizing resources based on utilization- Implementing cost governance and tagging- Analyzing multi-cloud cost optimization opportunities## Pricing Model Decision| Workload Type | AWS | Azure | GCP | Savings ||---------------|-----|-------|-----|---------|| Steady-state (24/7) | Reserved Instances / Savings Plans | Reserved VMs | Committed Use | 30-72% || Variable / burst | On-Demand + Auto-scaling | Pay-as-you-go | On-Demand | Baseline || Fault-tolerant batch | Spot Instances | Spot VMs | Preemptible | Up to 90% || Serverless / event-driven | Lambda | Functions | Cloud Functions | Pay-per-use |## Storage Tiering Decision| Data Access Pattern | AWS | Azure | GCP ||---------------------|-----|-------|-----|| Frequent (hot) | S3 Standard | Hot | Standard || Infrequent (30+ days) | S3 Standard-IA | Cool | Nearline || Rare (90+ days) | S3 Glacier | Cold | Coldline || Archive (365+ days) | S3 Deep Archive | Archive | Archive |**Rule:** Implement lifecycle policies to auto-transition data between tiers.## Required Tags| Tag | Purpose | Example ||-----|---------|---------|| `Environment` | Cost allocation by env | `production`, `staging` || `Project` | Cost allocation by project | `my-project` || `CostCenter` | Finance reporting | `engineering` || `Owner` | Contact for unused resources | `team@example.com` || `ManagedBy` | Track IaC vs manual | `terraform` |**Reference:** See `references/tagging-standards.md` for full standards.## Process1. **Audit current spend** → Use Cost Explorer / Cost Management to identify top costs2. **Tag all resources** → Apply required tags for cost allocation3. **Identify waste** → Find unused EBS, EIPs, snapshots, idle instances4. **Right-size resources** → Use Compute Optimizer / Advisor recommendations5. **Apply pricing models** → Reserved/Committed for steady, Spot for batch6. **Implement tiering** → Storage lifecycle policies, database right-sizing7. **Set up alerts** → Budget alerts at 50%, 80%, 100% thresholds8. **Schedule reviews** → Weekly cost review, monthly optimization## Checklist- [ ] Cost allocation tags applied to all resources- [ ] Unused resources deleted (EBS, EIPs, snapshots, idle instances)- [ ] Instances right-sized based on utilization metrics- [ ] Reserved capacity purchased for steady workloads (>70% utilization)- [ ] Spot/preemptible used for fault-tolerant workloads- [ ] Storage lifecycle policies configured- [ ] Budget alerts enabled (50%, 80%, 100%)- [ ] Cost anomaly detection enabled- [ ] Auto-scaling configured for variable workloads## Anti-Patterns| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do ||----------|-------|| Over-provision "just in case" | Right-size based on metrics, scale up if needed || Use On-Demand for steady workloads | Use Reserved/Committed for predictable usage || Store all data in hot tier | Implement lifecycle policies || Skip tagging | Tag everything for cost visibility || Review costs monthly | Review weekly, alert on anomalies |## Tools| Provider | Tools ||----------|-------|| AWS | Cost Explorer, Cost Anomaly Detection, Compute Optimizer || Azure | Cost Management, Advisor || GCP | Cost Management, Recommender || Multi-cloud | CloudHealth, Cloudability, Kubecost |## Reference Files- `references/tagging-standards.md` - Tagging conventions and enforcement## Related Skills- `tsh-implementing-terraform-modules` - For resource provisioning- `tsh-designing-multi-cloud-architecture` - For cloud selection

Frequently asked questions