Configuring Showback settings

Complete the preconfiguration tasks

• Define the Cost Bearer tag and the Percentage or Ratio tag for each resource in your hybrid cloud infrastructure.
  • The Cost Bearer tag must represent the cost center, team, or organization. If the resource cost is shared between multiple cost centers, separate the list of the cost centers using one of the following characters: , + / \ 
  • The Percentage or Ratio tag must represent the cost distribution formula. If the resource cost is shared between multiple cost centers, separate the distribution value using one of the following characters: , + / \ 
• Ensure that you have the required permissions to configure Showback settings. For information, see Managing-Users.

The cost of a shared resource is calculated based on the tag values that you select while adding the resource pools. If you have not created the resource pools, you can still configure the Showback settings and create the resource pools after this configuration is complete or edit the existing resource pools.

By default, the cost of shared resources is not divided between multiple cost centers. You must configure the Showback settings to override the default behavior.

Add the Showback configuration

1. Log on to BMC Helix Cloud Cost.
2. From the Cloud Cost dashboard, select Configure  > Configurations.
3. From the Showback tab, click Configure Showback.
4. Use one of the following methods to divide the cost of your resources:
   1. Don't divide: The cost of the resources will not be divided between multiple cost centers. 
   2. Divide by Percentage: The cost of the resources will be divided based on the percentage specified for each cost center.
      1. Enter the name of the cost bearer tag that you have created in your cloud infrastructure.
      2. Enter the name of the percentage tag that you have created in your cloud infrastructure.
      3. If the resource is shared between multiple entities, separate the values using one of the following characters: , + / \ 

   3. Divide by Ratio: The cost of the resources will be divided based on the percentage specified for each cost center. 

      1. Enter the name of the cost bearer tag that you have created in your cloud infrastructure.
      2. Enter the name of the ratio tag that you have created in your cloud infrastructure. 
      3. If the resource is shared between multiple entities, separate the values using one of the following characters: , + / \ 

      Example

      Consider Paul, a Tenant Admin user, wants to allocate costs to several departments for the VMs that are shared between the departments. In order to achieve this goal, Paul creates two multi-valued tags. The first tag (dept-name) contains the names of the departments, and the second tag (dept-cost) contains the corresponding cost allocation percentages.

      The total cost of the shared VMs is 100 dollars. The tags are as follows:

      • azure:dept-name = Development,Test,Production,Sales
      • azure:dept-cost = 40,25,15,20

      Each department pays the following amount for the VMs:

      • Development = 100 x 0.40 = 40$
      • Test = 100 x 0.25 = 25$
      • Production = 100 x 0.15 = 15$
      • Sales = 100 x 0.20 = 20$
5. Save the configuration. 
   The calculation is effective from the current month.
6. Create a Resource Pool using the cost bearer tag and the defined tag value. 
   If you have already created a resource pool but have not associated the tag values used in the Showback settings, you can edit the resource pool and select the tag values that you want to associate with the resource pool. 

Edit the Showback configuration

1. From the Cloud Cost dashboard, select Configure  > Configurations.
2. From the Showback tab, click Configure Showback.
3. Use one of the following methods to divide the cost of your resources:
   1. Don't divide: The cost of the resources will not be divided between multiple cost centers. 
   2. Divide by Percentage: The cost of the resources will be divided based on the percentage specified for each cost center.
      1. Update the name of the cost bearer and/or percentage tag
      2. Update the separator using one of the following characters: , + / \ 
   3. Divide by Ratio: The cost of the resources will be divided based on the percentage specified for each cost center. 
      1. Update the name of the cost bearer and/or ratio tag
      2. Update the separator using one of the following characters: , + / \ 
4. Save the configuration.
   The calculations are done according to the new configuration. History of the previous Showback configurations is not available.

Evaluate the computation

After you create the Resource Pool, you can see the Resource Pool details in Dashboard > Resource Pools tab. If you have configured the Showback feature, then the cost of the shared resources are distributed according to the formula defined in the tags. Resources that are not tagged are not considered in the cost calculation. 

The Resource Pools page displays the allocated budget, actual cost, and project cost details.

• To check the actual cost of the resource, go to Dashboard > Explore Bill, and select the name of the shared resource.
• To check the amount that is charged to the cost center, select the Resource Pool associated with the cost center, go to the Explore Bill tab, and select the name of the shared resource. 

Additionally, you can also use the budget and cost summary notification to schedule monthly, weekly, or daily generation of the budget and cost summary reports for selected the resource pools. For information, see Budget and Cost Summary notification. 

Related topics

Managing-Resource-pools

Budget and Cost Summary notification