Feature Flags and Cloud Cost Management

In the dynamic world of cloud computing, balancing the introduction of new features with managing costs is a constant challenge for businesses. Harness, a leading DevOps platform, is taking a bold step towards simplifying this delicate balance by integrating its Feature Flags and Cloud Cost Management (CCM) modules. This strategic move aims to empower customers to effortlessly identify potential cost anomalies resulting from changes in feature flag statuses.

When a feature is toggled on or off, it can impact running costs significantly. For example, enabling a feature that introduces caching using GCP Memorystore might enhance user experience but can lead to increased data storage costs and higher request volumes. The goal of this integration is to make it seamless for customers to pinpoint instances where enabling a feature may result in cost anomalies.

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Cloud Cost Management (CCM)

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‍What is CCM?

CCM provides detailed insights into resource consumption, allowing engineers and DevOps teams to monitor costs hourly.

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What is a Perspective?

Perspectives group resources in meaningful ways, offering a unified view of cloud cost data across environments. Users can create perspectives based on various criteria, such as account, environment, service, region, product, label, namespace, workload, etc.

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What is an Anomaly?

CCM's anomaly detection alerts users to significant increases in cloud costs, helping track potential waste and unexpected charges. It compares current spending with previous cloud cost data to detect anomalies.

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How it Works

Each feature flag environment will be associated with a CCM perspective. When a flag is changed within an environment, it will be added to a watch list for 24 hours. Every hour, the CCM will be queried to identify anomalies in the associated perspective. If an anomaly is reported, the Feature Flags module will correlate it with any flags currently on the watch list. The Feature Flags UI will display the presence of anomalies, enabling users to quickly identify which flags might be related to reported anomalies.

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Customer Value

Customers will benefit from enhanced visibility into their cloud spend's relationship with feature changes. For instance, if a flag change in a production environment results in a tripled cloud spend, users can quickly identify potential correlations, whether positive or negative.

Harness's integration of Feature Flags and Cloud Cost Management represents a leap forward in providing customers with actionable insights to optimize both feature development and cloud costs. This harmonious approach aligns seamlessly with the ever-evolving landscape of cloud computing, empowering organizations to make informed decisions and achieve the delicate balance between innovation and cost management.

‍Sign up for a free trial of Harness Feature Flags today and start experiencing the benefits of reliable release management together with Cloud Cost Management.

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