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Cloud Cost Management (CCM)

The Harness Cloud Cost Management (CCM) module provides complete visibility into cloud resource costs, helping teams identify waste, optimize spending, and achieve cost control.

Core Features

Cost Visibility

  • Multi-Cloud Support: Unified monitoring of AWS, Azure, GCP, and other cloud platform costs
  • Hourly Granularity: Get hour-level resource consumption data
  • Resource Perspective: Understand costs of Kubernetes namespaces, workloads, nodes, pods, and labels
  • Cost Breakdown: Distinguish between utilized, idle, and unallocated costs

Cost Optimization

  • AutoStopping Rules: Automatically stop idle resources
  • Smart Recommendations: AI-powered analysis to provide cost optimization suggestions
  • Budget Alerts: Set budget thresholds and receive automatic alerts when exceeded

Cost Governance

  • Policy Enforcement: Enforce cost control policies through OPA
  • Cost Allocation: Allocate cloud costs to departments, projects, or teams
  • Trend Analysis: Analyze cost change trends and predict future spending

Use Cases

Pain PointCCM Solution
Lack of Cost VisibilityUnified cost dashboard with real-time view of environment spending
Resource WasteAutoStopping automatically stops idle resources
Cost OverrunsBudget alerts and anomaly detection
Unclear AllocationCost allocation to teams or projects

Getting Started

1. Connect Cloud Account

Configure cloud account connectors in Harness CCM.

2. Enable Cost Visibility

Set up data collectors to start gathering cost data.

3. Configure Budget

Set monthly budgets for projects or environments.

4. Set Alerts

Configure cost anomaly alert rules.

5. View Dashboard

Monitor and analyze spending through the cost dashboard.

Cost Breakdown Model

CCM uses the following dimensions to break down costs:
Total Cost = Utilized Cost + Idle Cost + Unallocated Cost
TypeDescription
Utilized CostCost of resources actually used by workloads
Idle CostCost of allocated but underutilized resources
Unallocated CostCost that cannot be attributed to specific workloads

AutoStopping Rules

AutoStopping is a core CCM feature that automatically manages resource lifecycles:

Based on Idle Time

  • Automatically stop resources after N minutes of idleness
  • Automatically start when users access

Based on Schedule

  • Automatically start/stop resources on schedule
  • Supports work time and non-work time rules

Smart Mode

  • Combines idle detection with schedules
  • Optimal balance between cost and user experience

Best Practices

  1. Start Small: Monitor non-production environments first to become familiar with cost data
  2. Set Budgets: Set reasonable budgets for each environment
  3. Enable AutoStopping: Enable auto-stop for dev/test environments
  4. Regular Review: Check cost reports weekly to identify optimization opportunities
  5. Team Awareness: Make cost data transparent to teams to improve cost awareness