Question #608
A large enterprise merged multiple departments, each operating in separate AWS accounts with distinct billing setups. After consolidating all accounts into a single AWS Organizations structure, the finance team struggles to produce consolidated cost reports with custom business-specific groupings. The team requires a self-service solution to analyze costs across all departments efficiently. Which approach addresses these requirements?
Generate an AWS Cost and Usage Report for the organization. Configure cost allocation tags and cost categories. Build an Amazon Athena table from the report data. Develop an Amazon QuickSight dataset using the Athena table and grant the finance team access.
Generate an AWS Cost and Usage Report for the organization. Configure cost allocation tags and cost categories. Design a custom dashboard template in AWS Cost Explorer for the finance team to generate reports.
Develop a custom application that pulls cost data via the AWS Price List Query API. Build an Amazon QuickSight dataset using this data and share it with the finance team.
Use AWS Budgets to aggregate cost data across the organization. Create a custom Amazon QuickSight dashboard connected to the Budgets API for the finance team.
Explanation
Option A addresses all requirements:
1. AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR): Provides detailed cost and usage data across all accounts in AWS Organizations, essential for consolidation.
2. Cost Allocation Tags/Cost Categories: Allow custom business-specific groupings (e.g., by department, project) to categorize costs beyond AWS's default dimensions.
3. Athena & QuickSight: Enable self-service analysis. Athena queries CUR data stored in S3 using SQL, while QuickSight offers visualization capabilities, empowering the finance team to create custom reports.
Why other options fail:
- B: Cost Explorer dashboards lack the flexibility of QuickSight for deep customization and self-service.
- C: The Price List API does not provide actual usage/cost data, making it unsuitable for consolidated reporting.
- D: AWS Budgets focuses on tracking budgets, not detailed historical analysis or custom groupings.
Key Points: CUR + Cost Categories + Athena/QuickSight is the standard AWS-recommended approach for granular, consolidated cost analysis with custom groupings.
Answer
The correct answer is: A