Why Do You Need To Use Virtual Tags?
Managing and allocating native tagging systems provided by various cloud technologies can be complex and frustrating. Inconsistent tags across platforms, like an AWS resource labeled "Team A" corresponding to "Team Alpha" in Snowflake, lead to confusion and inefficiency. Additionally, native tagging lacks retroactive application, leaving historical data fragmented and obscured.
Finout's Virtual Tag feature addresses these challenges with a dynamic, real-time cost allocation solution. Virtual Tags offer a coherent and unified view, enabling the consolidation and analysis of costs across all cloud providers and services. By leveraging advanced filters, you can segment your cost data into specific segments, creating a structured and comprehensive financial overview without modifying original resource labels. Tailored rules within each Virtual Tag refine cost visualization and management, streamlining the way you manage your cloud spending.
A Virtual Tag acts like a funnel from the top down, and each rule further filters the data received after the preceding rule is run.
For example, with Virtual Tags you can view the costs associated with logical categories:
AWS and Kubernetes for different environments, such as Development versus Production.
Snowflake queries for Data Team 1 versus Data Team 2.
Snowflake, Kubernetes, and the cloud providers (such as AWS and GCP) for the Application, Backend, Data, and Analytics groups.
You can even use Virtual Tags based on other Virtual Tags. So you can aggregate all Data Team's different Virtual Tags together to allocate the entire Data group cost.
Once Virtual Tags are set up, seamlessly use them throughout your entire MegaBill.
Create a Virtual Tag
Navigate to Virtual Tags in the navigation bar and select New Virtual Tag.
Name the Virtual tag.
Select a tag category (Project, Team, Features, or Environment).
Create the rules for the Virtual Tags by setting Where conditions and corresponding Then actions.
Important: The order of rules is crucial as it determines their priority. Rule 1 has the highest priority and is assessed first, with its tagging action overriding subsequent rules. Only if a resource does not meet Rule 1's conditions will it be evaluated against Rule 2, and so on.
WHERE:
Select any cost center from the MegaBill.
Select the key.
Select the operator (One Of, Not one of, Is, Is not, Contains, Not Contains, Exists, or Not exists).
Depending on the operation, select or enter one or more values.
To add a further criterion to the rule, click +.
Select AND or OR.
Complete the rule row as described above.
THEN: Create a name for the rule created. Choose Custom Value to input text as a single value for the rule.
Alternatively, select MegaBill Key to use a key from the MegaBill as the rule's value. Using a MegaBill key allows you to generate multiple values at once.
Note: when selecting a key from the MegaBill, the key’s values will appear in the MegaBill when filtering or grouping by the Virtual Tag.
For example, Rule 1 includes:
Where conditions: The rule is structured to evaluate resources across different cloud providers: AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes. It will trigger if a resource within these providers has specific tags or labels that match predefined values. For AWS and Azure, the rule triggers for resources with any chosen values in 'environment' tags. For GCP, the rule is triggered if the 'env' label is exactly 'production'. For Kubernetes, it checks against specified 'label_environment' values.
Then outcome: If a resource meets any of the 'Where' conditions, the 'Then' action tags it as 'Production'.
(Optional) Each Virtual Tag can be assigned a timeframe, allowing for the specification of exact dates for rule application.
Click Add rule to add additional rules as required.
(Optional) In the Set the value for the untagged cost field, all unallocated costs not covered by any rules are aggregated under the tag value "untagged." You can enter a custom name for these untagged costs to generate a single value or choose a key from the MegaBill to generate multiple values simultaneously. This feature enables continuous enhancement of Virtual Tag coverage and the creation of rules to reduce untagged costs.
Click Apply Virtual Tag.
Notes:
A Virtual Tag is active from the current period onwards.
The Virtual Tags configuration screen is accessible to all users on the account. Contact the Finout support team if you wish to set accessibility limitations for specific users.
Virtual Tags can also be duplicated or deleted as needed.
Editing Virtual Tags
Editing Virtual Tags allows users to refine and update their cloud resource categorization as their infrastructure evolves:
Navigate to Virtual Tags in the navigation bar.
Click on the Virtual Tag you want to edit from the list. This will open the 'Edit virtual tag' screen.
Edit Virtual Tag rules: Click on the rule you want to change.
In the Where option, you can change the criteria using the Filter keys dropdown to select different filter types, such as tags or labels, and modify the logical operators as needed.
Adjust the cloud environments by selecting or deselecting them.
In the Then section, update the tag value that will be assigned when the rule's conditions are met.
Add or Delete Rules using the '+' Add rule button to include new segmentation rules or the '–' button to remove an existing rule.
Adjust the rule order as desired using the Move rule function, which allows you to change their ranking, since the rules are applied from top to bottom.
Additional edits:
Adjust the time frame.
Edit the values for the untagged costs.
Set up notifications for changes.
Filter by conditions: Utilize the filter values dropdown options to narrow down your Virtual Tag based on specific chosen filters. This is particularly useful when the created Virtual Tag has many rules. Instead of manually searching for the specific item to edit within the Virtual Tag, you can use the filters option to drill down and easily find what you need to edit.
Filter types:
Virtual Tag values: Filter based on the names assigned to the rule in the "Then" section.
Filter keys: Filter based on the keys chosen in your Virtual Tag.
Filter values: Filter based on the exact values that trigger the rule.
Use a Virtual Tag in Finout’s Dashboards
You can build widgets in the Dashboards using the Virtual Tags. To use a Virtual Tag, simply select it from the list of filters, and choose whether to include or exclude the associated costs. You can also select which of the categories (rules) of the Virtual Tag to include.
Once a Virtual Tag is created, it is automatically added to the Finout MegaBill as if it was always there.
You can also use a Virtual Tag for grouping.
Creating a Virtual Tag to track your spend across your entire cloud is the first step to truly understanding your spending, once done Finout’s Virtual Tags will allow you daily to under your allocated cost and to gain insight into the actions that happened and will need to happen in the feature to manage and reduce your spend.
If you are still struggling to create your ideal Virtual Tag, please reach out to your Customer Success so we can provide you with all the support you need to achieve 100% cost observability.
Virtual Tag Shared Cost Reallocation
Building upon this foundation, Finout takes it a step further with the Shared Cost Reallocation. The reallocation of Virtual Tags enhances the granularity of cost allocation, allowing for a more refined reallocation of shared expenses. Finout’s Shared Cost Reallocation not only addresses the direct challenges of shared cost management but also promotes a deeper understanding of cloud expenditure patterns, allowing you to make more informed financial decisions and strategic planning.
Finout offers four practical strategies for shared cost reallocation:
Customized cost reallocation - Coming soon!
Cost ratio allocation - Coming soon!
MegaBill key allocator - Coming soon!
For instructions on setting up telemetry based reallocation in Finout, please refer to the Setting Up a Telemetry Based Reallocation documentation.
Still need help? Please feel free to reach out to our team at [email protected].