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Cloud & AI Cost Management

Learn Cloud & AI Cost Management through Harness University

Save time, reduce effort, and save on your cloud bill with intelligent cloud cost automation. Detect and stop cloud and AI cost anomalies as they occur, to avoid unpleasant billing surprises with a FinOps approach.

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Intensive two-day courses are designed for engineers looking to deepen their understanding and expertise in Harness.

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Cloud & AI Cost Management - Developer

Cloud & AI Cost Management - Developer badge

Product version: Harness CCM Free Plans

Assesses the fundamental skills to to detect and stop cloud cost anomalies as they occur.

Review Study Guide

Topic
Material

1. Implement and Optimize Cloud Cost Management

Define and Streamline FinOps Strategies: Develop financial operations strategies to manage and optimize cloud expenses.

Allocate and Track Cloud Expenses: Enable precise allocation and tracking of cloud expenses across different dimensions or units like "Product Squads".

2. Efficiently Manage Cloud Resources

Automate Resource Management: Utilize CCM features like Autostopping to optimize and automate resource utilization and management.

Implement Asset Governance: Employ asset governance rules to manage and control cloud resources effectively, ensuring they are utilized or deprovisioned accordingly.

3. Achieve Transparency in Cloud Spending

Develop Insights into Spending: Employ CCM to provide a clear overview and insights into cloud spending across various resources and services.

Address Unallocated Costs: Utilize features that help in identifying and managing unallocated costs in cloud resources.

4. Optimize and Right-Size Resources

Implement Resource Optimization Recommendations: Utilize CCM to provide and implement recommendations to optimize resources effectively.

Rightsize Cloud Resources: Ensure resources like EC2 instances are rightly sized based on usage patterns and requirements.

5. Enabling Efficient Cloud Governance and Compliance

Enhance Cloud Asset Governance: Implement Cloud Asset Governance to ensure regulatory compliance and minimize unnecessary resource utilization.

Tag and Track AWS Resources: Automatically tag AWS resources for better governance and cost tracking.

6. Manage and Allocate Budgets Effectively

Allocate Budgets to Different Units: Distribute budgets to various departments or units effectively, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Manage and Monitor Budgets: Implement budget alerts and monitor budget expenditure through CCM to avoid overspends.

7. Provide Comprehensive Data and Analytics

Enable Data Availability and Analytics: Ensure comprehensive data about cloud costs is available and easily analyzable via CCM.

Set Up and Utilize Dashboards: Implement dashboards to visualize, track, and manage cloud expenses and utilization in real-time.

Register for Exam

Exam Details

The Cloud Cost Management Developer exam tests your knowledge and skills of the Harness Cloud Cost Management module.

Prerequisites

  • Basic terminal skills

  • Basic understanding of on premise or cloud cost structure.

Exam Details

Exam Duration: 90 minutes

Question Type: Multiple choice

Covered Domain
Percentage

Implement and Optimize Cloud Cost Management

25%

Efficiently Manage Cloud Resources

20%

Achieve Transparency in Cloud Spending

15%

Optimize and Right-Size Resources

10%

Enabling Efficient Cloud Governance and Compliance

15%

Manage and Allocate Budgets Effectively

10%

Provide Comprehensive Data and Analytics

5%

Exam Objectives

List of Objectives

The following is a detailed list of exam objectives:

#
Objectives

1

Implement and Optimize Cloud Cost Management

1.1

Define and Streamline FinOps Strategies.

1.2

Allocate and Track Cloud Expenses.

2

Efficiently Manage Cloud Resources

2.1

Automate Resource Management.

2.2

Implement Asset Governance.

3

Achieve Transparency in Cloud Spending

3.1

Develop Insights into Spending.

3.2

Address Unallocated Costs.

4

Optimize and Right-Size Resources

4.1

Implement Resource Optimization Recommendations.

4.2

Rightsize Cloud Resources.

5

Enabling Efficient Cloud Governance and Compliance

5.1

Enhance Cloud Asset Governance.

5.2

Tag and Track AWS Resources.

6

Manage and Allocate Budgets Effectively

6.1

Allocate Budgets to Different Units.

6.2

Manage and Monitor Budgets.

7

Provide Comprehensive Data and Analytics

7.1

Enable Data Availability and Analytics.

7.2

Set Up and Utilize Dashboards.

Next Steps

The Cloud Cost Management Developer exam can start immediately after registering. Please allow up to 90 mins for the exam.

  1. Create an account in Harness University

  2. Register for an exam

  3. Take the exam

Register for Exam

Cloud & AI Cost Management - Administrator

Cloud & AI Cost Management - Administrator badge

Product version: Harness CCM Paid Plans

Assess key technical job functions and advanced skills in design, implementation and management of CCM.

Review Study Guide

Objective
Material

1. Cloud Cost Management Fundamentals

Explain the core concepts and principles of cloud cost management.

Identify key cost drivers and factors affecting cloud expenses.

Understand the financial implications of different cloud service models (e.g., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).

2. Cloud Cost Monitoring and Analysis

Set up cost monitoring and reporting tools within Harness.

Analyze cloud cost data to identify cost optimization opportunities.

Create customized cost reports and dashboards for different stakeholders.

3. Resource Tagging and Allocation

Implement a resource tagging strategy for tracking cloud costs.

Allocate costs to specific departments, teams, or projects based on resource tags.

Ensure accurate and granular cost allocation to improve cost visibility.

4. Cost Optimization Strategies

Develop cost optimization strategies tailored to specific cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

Identify and implement cost-saving measures, such as reserved instances, spot instances, and scaling policies.

Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of cost optimization efforts.

5. Budgeting and Forecasting

Create and manage budgets for cloud spending.

Forecast future cloud costs based on historical data and usage trends.

Implement alerts and notifications to proactively manage budget overruns.

6. Cost Allocation and Chargeback

Establish a cost allocation framework to distribute cloud costs accurately among business units or customers.

Implement chargeback mechanisms to invoice internal or external stakeholders based on their cloud resource consumption.

Ensure compliance with cost allocation and chargeback policies.

7. Security and Compliance in Cost Management

Address security considerations when dealing with cost management data and tools.

Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) in handling cost-related information.

Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to secure cost management resources.

8. Integration with Cloud Services

Integrate Harness Cloud Cost Management with various cloud service providers and data sources.

Automate data collection and ingestion processes for real-time cost tracking.

Leverage APIs and connectors for seamless integration with cloud platforms.

9. Cost Management Best Practices

Promote best practices for cost management across the organization.

Collaborate with stakeholders to align cost management efforts with business goals.

Stay updated with the latest cloud cost management trends, tools, and industry benchmarks.

Register for Exam

Exam Details

The Cloud Cost Management Administrator exam tests your knowledge and skills of the Harness Cloud Cost Management module.

Prerequisites

Exam Details

Exam Type
Duration

Knowledge Exam

90 minutes

Hands On Exam

120 minutes

Covered Domain
Percentage

1. Cloud Cost Management Fundamentals

15%

2. Cloud Cost Monitoring and Analysis

10%

3. Resource Tagging and Allocation

10%

4. Cost Optimization Strategies

10%

5. Budgeting and Forecasting

15%

6. Cost Allocation and Chargeback

10%

7. Security and Compliance in Cost Management

10%

8. Integration with Cloud Services

10%

9. Cost Management Best Practices

10%

Exam Objectives

List of Objectives

The following is a detailed list of exam objectives:

#
Objective

1

Cloud Cost Management Fundamentals

1.1

Explain the core concepts and principles of cloud cost management.

1.2

Identify key cost drivers and factors affecting cloud expenses.

1.3

Understand the financial implications of different cloud service models (e.g., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).

2

Cloud Cost Monitoring and Analysis

2.1

Set up cost monitoring and reporting tools within Harness.

2.2

Analyze cloud cost data to identify cost optimization opportunities.

2.3

Create customized cost reports and dashboards for different stakeholders.

3

Resource Tagging and Allocation

3.1

Implement a resource tagging strategy for tracking cloud costs.

3.2

Allocate costs to specific departments, teams, or projects based on resource tags.

3.3

Ensure accurate and granular cost allocation to improve cost visibility.

4

Cost Optimization Strategies

4.1

Develop cost optimization strategies tailored to specific cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

4.2

Identify and implement cost-saving measures, such as reserved instances, spot instances, and scaling policies.

4.3

Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of cost optimization efforts.

5

Budgeting and Forecasting

5.1

Create and manage budgets for cloud spending.

5.2

Forecast future cloud costs based on historical data and usage trends.

5.3

Implement alerts and notifications to proactively manage budget overruns.

6

Cost Allocation and Chargeback

6.1

Establish a cost allocation framework to distribute cloud costs accurately among business units or customers.

6.2

Implement chargeback mechanisms to invoice internal or external stakeholders based on their cloud resource consumption.

6.3

Ensure compliance with cost allocation and chargeback policies.

7

Security and Compliance in Cost Management

7.1

Address security considerations when dealing with cost management data and tools.

7.2

Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) in handling cost-related information.

7.3

Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to secure cost management resources.

8

Integration with Cloud Services

8.1

Integrate Harness Cloud Cost Management with various cloud service providers and data sources.

8.2

Automate data collection and ingestion processes for real-time cost tracking.

8.3

Leverage APIs and connectors for seamless integration with cloud platforms.

9

Cost Management Best Practices

9.1

Promote best practices for cost management across the organization.

9.2

Collaborate with stakeholders to align cost management efforts with business goals.

9.3

Stay updated with the latest cloud cost management trends, tools, and industry benchmarks.

Next Steps

The Cloud Cost Management Administrator exam can start immediately after registering. Please allow up to 90 mins for the knowledge exam and up to 2 hours for the hands on exam.

  1. Create an account in Harness University

  2. Register for an exam. There is a $50 fee for the exam

  3. Take the exams

    1. There will be a knowledge and hands on portion.

Register for Exam

Cloud & AI Cost Management - Architect (BETA COMING SOON)

Cloud & AI Cost Management - Architect (BETA COMING SOON) badge

Product version: Harness CCM Paid Plans

Coming soon

This certification is in beta and not yet open for registration.

Assess key technical job functions and advanced skills in design, implementation and management of CCM.

Last updated

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