AWS Introduces Improved Billing Reports For Easier Tracking of Cloud Usage

Those using the Amazon Web Services cloud services now have access to enhanced features to keep track of usage, which also means better control over spending.

The new free features is called AWS Detailed Billing Reports and Consolidated Billing, which include the ability to break down usage costs by the hour and type of instance that is used. The cost of using an hourly basis can be traced to specific type of instances such as on-demand and reserved instances. If you use a combination of On Demand and Reserved Instances, you will now be able to ensure you have enough Reserved Instances to meet your capacity requirements for any given hour.

AWS said Detailed Billing Reports will also allow users easier access to track and manage costs for linked accounts that purchased the Reserved Instance initially. Users can also keep track of the cost of specific products.

Services to keep track of expenses and use has so far been rather absent from Amazon Web Services, which paved the way for a number of tools from third-party vendors.

AWS’s current tools, such as CloudWatch is also added to the list of detailed billing features. With this tool, you can estimate the amount charged per month for the current month based on usage to-date, and programmatic access to usage data and consolidate billing from multiple accounts into a single payment system.

Earlier in the year, AWS introduced Programmatic Access to AWS Billing Data alongside AWS Billing Alerts to fetch additional information on AWS usage along with a notification and alert users with notification if their spending for the month exceeds a particular amount.

Established third party tool such as Newvem, Cloudyn and Cloud Cruiser, among others are already offering analytic tool to track AWS usage. Newvem, for example, not only track costs but also helps users identify trends in their usage and provides suggestions to optimize which resources they’re using in AWS’s cloud. Newvem has its own iPhone app to allow users to analyze AWS usage on their mobile phones.

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