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Frequently

Asked Questions

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What is Usage?

Usage is an automated cost optimization platform that manages AWS Reserved Instances (RIs) by monitoring a customer’s workloads and deftly tailoring AWS RI commitments to match their actual consumption of AWS services (EC2/RDS/Elasticache/Opensearch/Redshift). By connecting Usage into your AWS organization via a custom IAM Policy + Role, customers can leverage the benefits of RI rates for all their compute and database workloads whilst shielding themselves from the potential hazard of overcommitting to these resources in the form of Usage’s Buyback Guarantee on all Reserved Instance/Node purchases.

Will Usage AI cause server downtime or interrupt my developer workflows (i.e. Will Usage AI modify my instances or any other AWS resources?) in any way?

No - Usage AI optimizes at the billing layer only. Following the IAM Policy, Usage has ZERO ability to modify your environment. There is zero-touch to your infrastructure; thus, there is no chance for any server downtime or interruptions to your developer workflows!

Will this require us to install anything on our instances?

NO - We use only IAM roles and permissions to perform all the required cost optimizations. We use AWS APIs to enable these savings. So, no installation is required on any of your instances.

Will Usage AI require any engineering work?

Nope! Getting started with Usage only requires setting up an IAM policy and an IAM role in your AWS organization. From signup to savings, the Usage onboarding takes fewer than 5 minutes!

How does the Buyback Program work?

The Usage buy-back guarantee ensures that if you purchase a Reserved Instance through Usage and end up using less capacity than you paid for, Usage sells your reserved instances on the AWS Reserved Instance Marketplace AND you'll receive a credit on your next month's bill for the difference. Please note that any over-provisioning which occurs as a result of user action outside of our Terms and Conditions is not covered by this guarantee.

What is a Reserved Instance?

Reserved instances are a billing abstraction that offers significant discounts compared to standard “On Demand” cloud computing prices in return for committing to the instance for a specific period of time. Currently, Amazon allows reserved instances for a 1 and 3-year period.

What kind of data does Usage AI collect?

Usage AI has NO access to your internal user data, any data stored by the systems being run on the reserved instances. Usage AI has the ability to probe the utilization of your current resources. For more specificity regarding the types of data Usage AI collects, please refer to the privacy policy.

Do you offer cloud optimisations for any AWS services other than EC2?

We currently support EC2, RDS, OpenSearch, Elasticache, and Redshift. However, in some special cases, we do support optimizations for EBS. We are currently working on expanding the repertoire of supported services within EC2.

Is Usage available via the AWS Marketplace?

Yes! Usage is available on the AWS Marketplace. Subscribing via the AWS Marketplace means Usage will appear as a line item on your AWS bill. Additionally, if you have an Enterprise Discount Program (EDP) with AWS, fees paid to Usage will count towards your annual spend commitments!

What are the Usage Payment Terms?

Usage offers Net30 Payment Terms.

How does Usage bill?

Billed monthly, Usage only charges customers for a percentage of the savings generated through the use of Usage savings products. For instance, let’s say you have a Usage savings fee of 20%. This means that if Usage saves you $100 in a given month, the Usage savings fee will be $20. If a customer subscribes via the AWS Marketplace, the fees paid to Usage will be a line item on your monthly AWS bill.

How long is a subscription to Usage?

Usage is month-to-month by default! To inquire about different plan lengths, please contact our sales team for more information.

What happens if I want to cancel Usage?

While we’ll be sad to see you go, you may terminate your subscription with Usage at anytime. There are a few options - if you’d like to try your hand at administering your own RIs and SPs, you can disconnect from the platform and begin managing those resources yourself. If you’d like to have all Usage RIs sold from your account, we ask you give us 30 days notice so we may list and sell the commitments we secured for you. In either case, you will be charged a pro-rated amount for the last month from the time of termination.

When do I start getting billed for Usage?

The relationship between Usage and the customer is initialized once a customer approves a recommendation via the Usage dashboard. Charges are billed on a monthly basis and your billing cycle is aligned to a calendar month. Similar to your AWS bill, Usage charges will be billed at the beginning of each month based on the prior month’s savings. For the exclusion of doubt, if you subscribe on November 8th, you will receive a Usage invoice in early December based on savings generated for the month of November.

Will Usage charges show up on my AWS bill?

Yes, but only if you subscribe via our AWS Marketplace link. Otherwise, Usage sends a separate invoice for a percentage of the savings generated in the previous month.

Can I exclude certain workloads from Usage management?

Yes! Excluding certain workloads from Usage management is as simple as not approving the associated recommendation. Usage draws a distinction between your pre-existing commitments and new Usage commitments. Usage only ever bills for the instruments that are procured via the Usage platform. This means you can use Usage to complement your existing savings stack (RIs/SPs) and rest assured that Usage is only billing for the resources we procured!