Help Center/ Well-Architected Framework/ Well-Architected Framework and Practices/ Cost Optimization Pillar/ COST01 Planning Organizations and Processes According to Cost Optimization Requirements/ COST01-01 Planning Enterprise Organizations, and Aligning the Organizational Structure, Process, and Cost Management
Updated on 2025-05-22 GMT+08:00

COST01-01 Planning Enterprise Organizations, and Aligning the Organizational Structure, Process, and Cost Management

  • Risk level

    High

  • Key strategies

    A fundamental principle of cost optimization is ensuring alignment between organizational structure, processes, and cost management. Establishing clear responsibility and accountability mechanisms is critical—even the most advanced cost optimization tools will fail without proper execution. A good practice is to create a team (cloud business office, cloud center of excellence, or FinOps team) at the beginning to cultivate and sustain an organizational cost-consciousness culture. The cost optimization lead can be an individual or team with a strong understanding of the organization and cloud finance. Team members should come from key decision-making and implementation departments, such as executive leadership (CXOs), finance, development, O&M, and data analytics.

    This team can function as a virtual team that establishes cost management processes when the company begins implementing cost optimization. For example, they can incorporate costs into key assessment metrics in the entire application and service lifecycle, and drive resolution of various discrepancies such as cost allocation. Ultimately, they define and implement a comprehensive accountability mechanism for cost-related matters within the company.