Defining and managing a cost object

A cost object is any IT resource or service that is used by the target hierarchy and incurs cost to the your organization. In BMC Helix Capacity Optimization, cost objects are classified as follows:

Basic cost object: Any individual item or service. For example, storage or server.
Composite cost object: Collection of basic cost objects. For example, cost associated with servers and total volume of storage used by a department of your organization.

The Basic Cost object enables you to define cost objects using any one of the following methods to account for the measurable costs:

Fixed rate: Targets are charged with fixed rate and allowed unlimited consumption.
Allocation based: Targets are charged based on the subscriptions or licenses utilized.
Utilization based: Targets are charged based on consumption on factors such as CPU GHz/hour that can be measured to support accounting. Alternatively, peak-based consumption or a tiered approach can be used to differentiate costs across targets. Service-based pricing based on workloads or other consumption metrics can also be used.

The Composite cost object enables you to use one or more basic cost objects to account for the measurable costs. This enables you to create a cost object using different methods or templates for measuring costs. Composite cost objects are automatically created in an automatic cost model for each domain at the leaf level (representing a business service) in the chargeback hierarchy. Composite cost objects can be used to identify the cost of each tenant (elements in the hierarchy) as well as understand the overall charged cost for a particular service.

For more information, see the following sections:

Workflows for adding a cost object

Workflow for adding a basic cost object based on calculation method...

Workflow for adding a basic cost object based on template...

Workflow for adding a composite cost object...

To view cost objects

Select Chargeback > Cost objects. The Cost objects page displays a list of all existing cost objects that have been configured in BMC Helix Capacity Optimization.

The Cost objects page consists of Cost objects table with the following columns:

The following figure shows the cost objects list.

To view details of a cost object

Select Chargeback > Cost objects.
The Cost objects page is displayed.
Click name of the required cost object.
The details page of the selected cost object is displayed.

The following figure shows the sample Details page for the selected cost object page for a cost object based on a template.

cost object details.png

To add a basic cost object

Select Chargeback > Cost objects.
The Cost objects page is displayed.
Select Add > Basic cost object.
The Add basic cost object page is displayed.
Enter the following details:
- Name: Type the required name of the cost object.
- Key: Type a unique alphanumeric key to be used for identifying the cost object. In addition, this key is used in historical data series for the chargeback data that is saved in the BMC Helix Capacity Optimization Data Warehouse. For example, use ACME_webservice_1 where ACME indicates domain name and webservice indicates cost object name.
- Description: Type the required description of the new cost object.
- Template/Custom: Select whether the cost object should be Based on template or Custom.
  Based on the option selected, select the required tab to view details for the available fields.
To finish creating your cost object, click Save.

Adding a composite cost object

You can add a composite cost objects using existing basic cost objects.

Before you begin

Ensure that required basic cost objects are available. For more details, see To add a basic cost object.

To add a composite cost object

Select Chargeback > Cost objects.
The Cost objects page is displayed.
Select Add > Composite cost object.
The Add basic cost object page is displayed.
Enter the following details:
- Name: Type the required name of the cost object.
- Key: Type a unique alphanumeric key to be used for identifying the cost object. In addition, this key is used in historical data series for the chargeback data that is saved in the BMC Helix Capacity Optimization Data Warehouse. For example, use ACME_webservice_1 where ACME indicates domain name and webservice indicates cost object name.
- Description: Type the required description of the new cost object.
- Include only domains whose name matches: Type the name of domains
- Cost objects: Click Edit to select the required cost objects from the Available items table, and add them to the Selected items table using the >> button or by clicking+dragging them. You can also search the required cost objects from the Available items table. In the Selected items table, select the required cost objects, and click << to remove them. Click Apply to add or remove cost objects.
Click Save.

To edit a cost object

Select Chargeback > Cost objects.
The Cost objects page is displayed.
Click name of the required cost object.
The cdetails page of the selected cost object is displayed.
Click Edit.
To edit details of cost object, see step 3 for adding a basic cost object.
You cannot modify the key for the previously saved UOMs.

To delete a cost object

Select Chargeback > Cost objects.
The Cost objects page is displayed.
Click name of the required cost object.
The details page of the selected cost object is displayed.
Click delete.

Where to go from here

Defining-and-managing-a-cost-model-template