Tools CIOs Can Use
Cutting cloud and SaaS spend
The cloud bill grew faster than the business, and finance wants to know why.
The set runs from finding the money to locking it in: who uses what, what leaving a provider would cost, and how to price a multi-year commitment. Showback comes first, because nobody cuts spend they cannot see.
Downloads
Files you keep and edit: PDF, Excel, Word or PowerPoint. Most show part of the file before you ask for it.
- Spreadsheet templateSaaS Sprawl Showback StarterA spreadsheet to inventory SaaS tools, total spend by team for showback, and mark overlapping tools.
- CalculatorEgress Exposure CalculatorAn Excel calculator for cloud egress cost, the break-even and payback for a dedicated link, and a month-by-month projection.
- Reference guideCloud Commitment Discount-Rate Cheat SheetA reference on which discount rate to use for a cloud commitment: WACC, a hurdle rate or a risk-adjusted rate.
- Reference guideSoftware Capitalization Quick GuideA guide to whether software spend is capitalized or expensed, for cloud, in-house builds and licenses.
- Calendar and contract registerSoftware Renewal CalendarA contract register that works out each software contract's notice deadline and start-negotiating date, with 30/60/90-day flags.
Online tools
Fill in the page and get the result on screen. No account needed.
- CalculatorSaaS License Waste CalculatorFind the hidden cost of unused or underused SaaS licenses across your organization.
- CalculatorCloud Right-Sizing Savings CalculatorEstimate savings from optimizing overprovisioned cloud resources across your environment.
- ChecklistCloud FinOps Maturity ChecklistAssess cloud financial management capabilities across visibility, optimization, and governance.
Apps
Enter your situation and get the analysis back: a score, a draft or a plan. They run with a CIOPages account.
Part of the job Control technology spend.
Other sets
- Management consulting tools for CIOs
- Deciding where AI goes
- Governing the AI already in use
- Buying AI: vendors and models
- Buying technology without regret
- AI regulation and risk
- Architecture decisions that hold up
- Technical debt you can show the CFO
- Security platform evaluations
- Running IT like an investment portfolio
- Org design and decision rights
- The first 100 days as a CIO
- Board and budget season
- Incidents and resilience