Cosmo: Cloud Data Cost Governance
Objectives
Design for Growth, Accessible, Responsive, Speed Optimization, Consolidation, Accountability
Areas of Accountability
Business Organizations (430+), Product (3.5K+), Employees (15K+), Accounts (AWS 2K+, GCP 800+)
Partners
CIO, Product Partners, Architects, Engineering Lead, Product Owner, Project Manager
Spearheaded and architected the redefined user experience for Yahoo’s Cosmo platform, a key tool for cloud cost governance, as part of the company’s digital transformation. Leveraging user insights and strategic planning, I led enhancements that improved stability and delivered over 15% reduction in cloud costs. Cosmo provides full transparency into public cloud spending, enabling efficient resource allocation and reducing waste.
Challenges and Objectives
Waste Cost Transparency
Establish a centralized system to identify, manage, and reduce cost inefficiencies. Define a scalable structure that maintains high performance while minimizing waste. Develop user workflows with a clear governance framework and accountability measures for products and teams.
Legacy and Inconsistent UX/UI
The platform's outdated and inconsistent UX/UI design created usability challenges, with inefficient data visualization and poor alignment to enterprise digital transformation goals. These issues hindered user adoption, reduced productivity, and limited compatibility with modern systems.
Data Analytics
Forecasting tools were implemented to provide users with actionable insights into cloud spending and usage. These enhancements allowed teams, employees, and stakeholders to identify inefficiencies, optimize costs, and make data-driven decisions.
Compliance & Usability
Security and monitoring features were integrated with data visualization to give stakeholders actionable insights for evaluating overall spending. These improvements ensured an intuitive user experience and minimized wasteful spending.
Alignment
The reporting tools and dashboard objectives delivered actionable insights into spending across products, teams, and employees, ensuring alignment with Yahoo’s goals. These solutions supported enterprise-wide accountability, streamlined collaboration, and modernization objectives.
Overview with Relevant Data
Tree Structure Navigation Improvement
Cost Breakdown with Data Visualization
Governance with Accountability
Insights on Wasteful Spending - Darkmode Capability
Results
Enhanced Cost Visibility
Advanced analytics in Cosmo provided clarity into cloud expenditures across departments and regions. This insight empowered teams to identify inefficiencies and reallocate resources to to drive more informed decision-making.
Business Objectives
Cosmo aligned cost management with enterprise platform objectives, improving operational efficiency by 20%. This integration ensured cost optimization efforts supported the modernization strategy and long-term goals.
Wasteful Spending Reduction
Adopting forecasting tools in Cosmo enabled Yahoo to predict future cloud expenses more accurately. This capability proactively adjusts budgets and resource allocation based on anticipated demands, avoiding unexpected costs across teams and products.
