MegaBill View Telemetry
Overview
MegaBill View Telemetry allows you to dynamically reallocate shared costs based on ratios derived from historical cost and usage data within Finout’s MegaBill. These ratios can be calculated daily or based on a sliding window (e.g., previous month, last 30 days), leveraging the data that already exists in Finout along with user-defined groupings and filters.
Transforming internal cost and usage data into telemetry enables flexible and precise cost reallocation within Finout. Organizations can distribute shared expenses across dimensions such as teams, namespaces, or cost centers using proportional ratios derived from historical cost or usage trends. This can be generated from any existing MegaBill view, enabling you to customize cost reallocation to fit your specific needs.
Use Cases
AWS Support Costs Reallocation: AWS support charges are typically applied as a percentage of an organization’s cloud spend, but they often lack a clear breakdown per team or business unit. With MegaBill View Telemetry, these costs can be redistributed based on proportional usage or spend, ensuring accurate financial accountability.
Idle Resource Cost Allocation: In cloud environments, idle or underutilized resources often contribute to unnecessary unallocated or shared costs. By leveraging historical telemetry, FinOps teams can allocate these idle costs proportionally to the teams or services associated with them, enabling better visibility and cost accountability.
Create a MegaBill View Telemetry
1. Obtain a View ID
In MegaBill, select a view that you want to base the telemetry on.
Note:
You can use a pre-defined saved view or create your own view. See MegaBill documentation for full instructions regarding creating new views and using saved views.
Part of the process of creating a new view is Enabling ACL Permissions. This allows you to define specific read and write permissions for individual users and groups. See MegaBill documentation and ACL Permissions for more information.
You cannot create a Megabill ratio with multiple group bys.
Copy the View ID.
2. Connect MegaBill View Telemetry
Navigate to Settings > Telemetry.
Click Add telemetry. The Connect Telemetry page appears.
Under MegaBill View, click Connect Now. The Configure MegaBill View step appears.
Telemetry Display Name: Choose a clear, descriptive name that identifies and locates the telemetry easily.
MegaBill View: Choose a MegaBill view from the dropdown.
Note: If a view cannot be used for MB Telemetry (for example, when no Group By is selected or when multiple Group By dimensions are used), the view will still be displayed but cannot be used for telemetry.
Time Frame Type: Specify either "Same-Day" or "Sliding Window":
Same-Day Calculation: (See below for a more detailed explanation)
Ratios are calculated using data from the current day only.
Each day's calculation is independent and does not incorporate historical data.
Use case: Ideal when cost behavior or usage patterns vary significantly day to day (e.g., spot instances, ephemeral environments).
Data scope: Only today’s data is considered; no historical context is applied.
Sliding Window Calculation: (See below for a more detailed explanation)
Ratios are calculated using historical data for the timeframe selected in the MegaBill view, up to 31 days. The current day is always excluded from the calculation window.
Use case: Ideal for stable environments where you want allocations to reflect historical averages.
Data scope: A rolling window of past days, excluding the current day.
Click Next. You are brought to the Review Configuration step. Same Day Calculation Review:
Sliding Window Calculation Review:
Review the configuration and click Submit. Result: The MegaBill View Telemetry is created and appears in the Telemetry list. Data is automatically aggregated over the past 3 months.
Note: If a view is changed, the updated calculation will appear in the MegaBill View Telemetry by the next day and will also apply to the current month's configuration.
Same-Day Calculation
Definition: Ratios are calculated independently for each day, using only that day’s data.
Use case: This is ideal when cost behavior or usage patterns vary significantly day to day (e.g., spot instances, ephemeral environments).
Data scope: Only today’s data is considered; no historical context is applied.
Example:
You want to distribute daily Datadog costs across teams based on their cloud spend on that same day:
On March 5th:
Team A spent $200
Team B spent $800
Total daily spend: $1,000 Datadog bill for March 5th: $100
Ratio-based allocation:
Team A: $100 × (200 / 1,000) = $20
Team B: $100 × (800 / 1,000) = $80 This calculation resets daily, using only the respective day’s spend.
Sliding Window Calculation
Definition: Ratios are based on historical data over a defined window of days (up to 31 days max).
Use case: This is ideal for stable environments where you want allocations to reflect historical averages.
Data scope: A window of past days, excluding the current day.
Note: The sliding window is limited to a maximum of 31 days, and the current day is always excluded from the calculation. The window is dynamic and does not support a fixed static timeframe (for example, January 25); it continuously adjusts based on the current date.
Example:
You want to allocate March 1st’s AWS support cost based on spend from the previous 30 days (Feb 1–Feb 29).
Historical team spend:
Team A: $900
Team B: $8,100
Total: $9,000
AWS Support bill for March 1st: $270
Ratio-based allocation:
Team A: $270 × (900 / 9,000) = $27
Team B: $270 × (8,100 / 9,000) = $243
This sliding window recalculates daily, shifting one day forward and excluding today’s data.
Sliding Window Variations
Last X Days: For each day, sum of the cost and usage of the previous X days, not including the current day.
Note: The window slides forward daily.
For Example: On April 9, with a 3-day window, the value includes April 6, 7, and 8.
Last Month (Previous Calendar Month): For each day, sum of the cost and usage of the entire previous calendar month.
Note: Value is constant across all days (e.g., April 1–30 shows the same March total).
Example: On any day in April, the value will be the total of March 1–31.
Current Month (Same Calendar Month): For each day, sum of the cost and usage of the current calendar month.
Note: Value is updated retroactively for each day in the month as new data arrives, so April 1 through April 30 will all eventually show the total for April.
Example: On April 9, the value includes April 1–9. On April 30, it includes April 1–30.
FAQs
How do I use telemetry for shared cost reallocations?
To use telemetry for shared cost reallocations, select the generated MegaBill View Telemetry from the existing dropdown within the Virtual Tag reallocation options. Reallocations are performed similarly to external telemetry sources. For detailed instructions, please refer to the How to Use Shared Cost Reallocation documentation.
What is the recommended daily telemetry data limit?
The recommended daily telemetry limit is up to 1,000 telemetry values per day to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
How frequently is historical telemetry data recalculated?
Historical telemetry data is automatically recalculated over the past 3 months.
What is the maximum number of hierarchical levels or nested categories I can effectively implement when organizing telemetry data in the MegaBill Ratio system?
It is recommend to use up to three nested levels of virtual tags for optimal performance when working with MegaBill View Telemetry
How many active MegaBill View Telemetry sources can I maintain per account?
Each account supports up to 50 active MegaBill Ratio telemetry.
If I change a view, when will the updated data appear in MegaBill?
A: Changes to a view will be reflected in MegaBill View Telemetry by the next day. The updated calculation will also apply to the configuration for the current month.
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