tools-only /cost-analysis
Analyse infrastructure, licensing, and operational costs across systems. Uses three parallel agents to evaluate infrastructure, licensing/SaaS, and operational dimensions, then produces a prioritised list of savings opportunities with implementation roadmaps.
When to Use This Skill
- Reviewing cloud infrastructure spend for optimisation opportunities
- Preparing cost justifications for architecture changes
- Identifying redundant tooling or under-utilised licences
- Building business cases with financial projections
- Annual budget planning for technology costs
Usage
/cost-analysis <scope> [--period monthly|quarterly|annual] [--target-savings percentage]
Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
scope |
Systems or domain to analyse | Yes |
--period |
Cost reporting period (default: monthly) |
No |
--target-savings |
Target savings percentage to aim for | No |
Instructions
Phase 1: Gather Cost Data
Prompt the user for available cost information:
| Data Source | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Cloud bills, hosting costs, network costs | AWS Cost Explorer export, invoices |
| Licensing | Software licence costs and utilisation | SAP, Oracle, Salesforce licences |
| Staffing | Team costs allocated to systems | 3 FTEs for System X support |
| Contracts | Vendor contracts and renewal dates | Support contract £50k/year |
Phase 2: Parallel Cost Analysis — Agent Team
Launch three agents simultaneously using the Task tool.
Agent 1: Infrastructure Cost Analyst (Sonnet) Task: Analyse compute, storage, and networking costs
- Break down costs by service (compute, storage, network, database, monitoring)
- Identify over-provisioned resources (CPU utilisation < 30%, memory < 40%)
- Find unused or idle resources (stopped instances, unattached volumes, idle load balancers)
- Detect cost anomalies (sudden spikes, trending increases)
- Evaluate reserved vs on-demand vs spot pricing opportunities
- Suggest rightsizing recommendations with estimated savings
- Check for missing cost allocation tags Return: Infrastructure cost breakdown with per-item savings opportunities and confidence levels
Agent 2: Licensing and SaaS Analyst (Sonnet) Task: Review software licensing and SaaS subscription costs
- Catalogue all software licences and their costs
- Calculate licence utilisation rates (assigned vs active users)
- Identify redundant tools serving similar purposes
- Check for volume discount opportunities
- Review contract renewal dates and renegotiation windows
- Identify open-source alternatives for low-utilisation tools
- Flag shelfware (purchased but unused licences) Return: Licensing cost analysis with consolidation recommendations and savings estimates
Agent 3: Operational Cost Analyst (Sonnet) Task: Analyse staffing and operational costs
- Calculate support cost per system (staff hours x rate)
- Identify high-maintenance systems consuming disproportionate support time
- Find automation opportunities (manual processes that could be automated)
- Estimate the cost of technical debt (rework, workarounds, extended support)
- Calculate the cost of incidents (downtime, recovery effort)
- Project savings from proposed improvements Return: Operational cost analysis with automation recommendations and ROI estimates
Phase 3: Synthesise Cost Report
Combine all agent results:
- Create cost dashboard — Total spend, breakdown by category, trends
- Rank savings opportunities — By estimated impact (highest first)
- Calculate implementation effort — For each recommendation
- Build implementation roadmap — Quick wins first, then larger initiatives
- Project 3-year savings — Cumulative savings over time
Output Format
# Cost Analysis: <Scope>
## Cost Dashboard
| Category | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | % of Total | Trend |
|--------------------|-------------|-------------|------------|-----------|
| Infrastructure | £X | £X | X% | ↑ X% |
| Licensing / SaaS | £X | £X | X% | → stable |
| Operational | £X | £X | X% | ↓ X% |
| **Total** | **£X** | **£X** | **100%** | |
## Top 10 Savings Opportunities
| Rank | Opportunity | Est. Annual Saving | Effort | Confidence | Quick Win? |
|------|-------------------------------|-------------------|---------|------------|------------|
| 1 | <Description> | £X | Low | High | Yes |
| 2 | <Description> | £X | Medium | Medium | No |
**Total Potential Savings:** £X/year (X% of current spend)
## Infrastructure Analysis
### Cost by Service
| Service | Monthly Cost | Utilisation | Recommendation | Saving |
|------------|-------------|-------------|------------------------|----------|
| Compute | £X | X% | Rightsize to X | £X/month |
| Storage | £X | X% | Lifecycle policy | £X/month |
| Database | £X | X% | Reserved instances | £X/month |
### Unused Resources
<List of resources that can be safely removed>
## Licensing Analysis
### Licence Utilisation
| Software | Licences | Active Users | Utilisation | Action |
|--------------|----------|--------------|-------------|--------------------|
| <Product> | X | X | X% | Reduce by X |
### Consolidation Opportunities
<Tools with overlapping capabilities>
## Operational Analysis
### Support Cost by System
| System | Monthly FTE | Monthly Cost | Incidents/Month | Automation Potential |
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------------|---------------------|
| <System> | X.X | £X | X | High |
### Automation Opportunities
| Process | Current Cost | Automation Cost | Annual Saving | Payback |
|----------------------|-------------|-----------------|---------------|----------|
| <Process> | £X/year | £X one-time | £X/year | X months |
## Implementation Roadmap
### Phase 1: Quick Wins (0-3 months)
- [ ] <Action> — £X/year saving
### Phase 2: Medium Effort (3-6 months)
- [ ] <Action> — £X/year saving
### Phase 3: Strategic (6-12 months)
- [ ] <Action> — £X/year saving
## 3-Year Projection
| Year | Current Trajectory | With Optimisation | Cumulative Saving |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Year 1 | £X | £X | £X |
| Year 2 | £X | £X | £X |
| Year 3 | £X | £X | £X |
Examples
Example 1: Cloud Cost Optimisation
/cost-analysis "Production AWS Account" --period monthly --target-savings 20
Analyses AWS costs to find 20% savings through rightsizing, reserved instances, and unused resources.
Example 2: Licensing Review
/cost-analysis "Enterprise SaaS Portfolio" --period annual
Annual review of all SaaS subscriptions to find consolidation and utilisation improvements.
Example 3: System Cost Comparison
/cost-analysis "Legacy vs Modern Stack" --period annual
Compares operational costs between legacy and modern systems to build a migration business case.
Invoke with: /cost-analysis <scope> to identify and prioritise cost savings