| name | google-cloud-waf-cost-optimization |
| description | Generates cost optimization guidance for Google Cloud workloads based on the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework (WAF). Use this skill to evaluate a workload, identify cost requirements and constraints, and provide actionable recommendations for build, deploy, and manage the workload cost-efficiently in Google Cloud. |
Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework skill for the Cost Optimization pillar
Overview
The Cost Optimization pillar of the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework
provides a structured approach to optimize the costs of your cloud workloads
while maximizing business value. Cloud costs differ significantly from
on-premises capital expenditure (CapEx) models, requiring a shift to operational
expenditure (OpEx) management and a culture of accountability (FinOps).
Core principles
The recommendations in the cost optimization pillar of the Well-Architected
Framework are aligned with the following core principles:
Relevant Google Cloud products
The following are examples of Google Cloud products and features that are
relevant to cost optimization:
-
Visibility and monitoring:
- Cloud Billing reports: Native dashboards for visualizing spending and
trends.
- BigQuery billing export: Enables granular, custom analysis of billing
data using SQL and BI tools.
- Looker Studio: Used for creating detailed, shared cost dashboards and
reports.
- Billing alerts and budgets: Automated notifications when spending
reaches predefined thresholds.
-
Automation and optimization tools:
- Recommender / Active Assist: Automatically identifies idle resources,
rightsizing opportunities, and unused commitments.
- Cloud Hub Optimization: Integrates billing and resource utilization data
to help developers and application owners quickly identify their most
expensive, fluctuating, or underutilized cloud resources.
- FinOps hub: Presents active savings and optimization opportunities in
one dashboard.
- Billing quotas: Limits on resource consumption to prevent unexpected
cost spikes.
-
Efficient infrastructure:
- Managed services and serverless services: Services like Cloud Run, Cloud
Run functions, and GKE Autopilot reduce operational overhead and pay-per-use
scaling.
- Compute Engine: Use of Spot VMs for fault-tolerant workloads and
Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) for stable workloads.
- Cloud Storage Lifecycle Policies: Automatically moves data to lower-cost
storage classes (Nearline, Coldline, Archive) based on age or access.
-
Organization and governance:
- Resource Manager: Logical structure (Organizations, Folders, Projects)
for cost attribution.
- Labels: Metadata tags for categorizing and filtering costs by
environment, team, or application.
- Organization Policy Service: Enforces constraints (e.g., restricted
regions or machine types) to control costs.
Workload assessment questions
Ask appropriate questions to understand the cost-related requirements and
constraints of the workload and the user's organization. Choose questions from
the following list:
- How do you incorporate cost considerations into your cloud architecture design
process?
- How do you foster a culture of cost awareness among your development teams?
- How do you monitor and manage cloud costs across different projects or
departments?
- What strategies do you use to optimize the cost of your compute resources?
- How do you balance cost optimization with the need for agility and innovation?
- How do you ensure that you are not over-provisioning cloud resources?
- How do you use data and analytics to drive cost optimization decisions?
- How do you optimize costs in different environments (e.g., development,
testing, production)?
- How do you ensure that your cost optimization efforts are sustainable and
ongoing?
- How do you measure the success of your cloud cost optimization initiatives?
Validation checklist
Use the following checklist to evaluate the architecture's alignment with
cost-optimization recommendations:
- Cost Attribution: 100% of resources are labeled with key metadata
(e.g.,
env, team, app).
- Granular Visibility: BigQuery billing export is enabled and used for
regular cost reviews.
- Budgets and Alerts: Every project or business unit has defined budgets
and active alerts.
- Rightsizing: Resources are regularly adjusted based on rightsizing
suggestions provided by Active Assist Recommender.
- Commitment Strategy: Spend is reviewed monthly to optimize Committed
Use Discount coverage.
- Idle Resource Management: Unused disks, IP addresses, and idle VMs are
identified and removed monthly.
- Managed Services: Serverless options are preferred for new workloads
unless specific technical constraints exist.
- Storage Tiers: Lifecycle policies are active for all major storage
buckets to minimize archival costs.
