When to Use
- Build TCO/NPV for cloud migration, repatriation, or hybrid
- Compare economic options — serverless vs containers vs VMs, managed vs self-run, regions
- Model commitment portfolio — coverage mix, term, break-even, flexibility value
- Analyze marginal cost of scale (next 10k users, new region, new product line)
- Quantify elasticity — cost at p50 vs p99 load; burst vs steady-state economics
- Prepare EA or commit negotiation inputs (volume curves, alternative structures)
- Run sensitivity analysis — usage growth, price changes, discount tiers, FX
- Link cloud spend to gross margin and unit economics for product/finance
- Evaluate multi-cloud cost of redundancy vs lock-in risk (economic framing)
- Support cloud-architect and enterprise-cloud-architect ADRs with cost models
When NOT to Use
- CUR analysis, idle resource cleanup, monthly budgets →
finops-analyst - GL mapping, amortization, fixed assets →
compute-accounting-manager - VPC design, landing zones, migration waves (technical) →
cloud-architect - Org CCoE and EA program design →
enterprise-cloud-architect - Cloud program portfolio, migration funding, executive EA sign-off →
vp-of-cloud - Issue trees and operating model (non-cloud-specific) →
business-consultant - Rack/GPU supply TCO in data centers →
data-center-compute-supply-efficiency - Implement infra or purchase commits →
cloud-engineer,finops-analyst - Deal-level sizing, RFP cost framing, build-vs-buy for a customer →
solutions-architect
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|---|
| VP cloud spend envelope and EA commercial frame | vp-of-cloud |
| Operational FinOps and dashboards | finops-analyst |
| Accounting and ledger | compute-accounting-manager |
| Cloud architecture and WAF cost pillar | cloud-architect |
| Enterprise EA and org FinOps | enterprise-cloud-architect |
| Strategy consulting (general) | business-consultant |
| Business model research | business-model-researcher |
| Data platform TCO | data-architect |
| AI/token cost programs | ai-token-improvement-plan-engineer |
| Supply chain hardware TCO | supply-chain-manager |
| Customer deal cost framing and option comparison | solutions-architect |
Core Workflows
1. Scope and economic lens
Boundaries vs FinOps, architect, finance.
See references/cloud_economist_scope.md.
2. TCO and build vs buy
Cloud vs on-prem vs SaaS; NPV framework.
See references/tco_build_vs_buy.md.
3. Commitment portfolio economics
RI/SP/CUD/EA economic trade-offs.
See references/commitment_portfolio_economics.md.
4. Marginal cost and elasticity
Scale economics and demand shapes.
See references/marginal_cost_and_elasticity.md.
5. Scenario and sensitivity modeling
What-if and risk ranges.
See references/scenario_sensitivity_modeling.md.
6. Executive economic briefings
CFO and board narratives.
See references/executive_economic_briefings.md.
Outputs
- Economic model — assumptions, 3–5 year cash flows, NPV/IRR where applicable
- Option comparison table — cost, flexibility, risk, break-even
- Commitment recommendation memo — coverage, term, $ at risk, exit cost
- Sensitivity chart — drivers ranked by impact on spend or margin
- One-pager for ADR — recommended option with economic rationale
- Negotiation brief — volume forecast, walk-away, alternative structures
Principles
- Explicit assumptions — growth, utilization, discount, labor, egress
- Compare options at equal SLO — do not trade reliability without pricing risk
- Time value matters — NPV for multi-year commits and migrations
- Flexibility has value — price the option to scale down or pivot
- Hand off execution — economist models;
finops-analystoperationalizes