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Key Features & Capabilities

This document provides a comprehensive walkthrough of AWS Lens features, demonstrating how each capability addresses specific cloud cost management challenges.

Table of Contents​

  1. Cost Visibility & Dashboards
  2. Service-Specific Analysis
  3. Cost Explorer & Analytics
  4. Reservation Intelligence
  5. Cost Optimization Engine
  6. Multi-Account Management
  7. Reporting & Alerts
  8. Administration & Governance

Cost Visibility & Dashboards​

Billing Summary Dashboard​

Billing Summary Dashboard

Purpose: Provides at-a-glance visibility into current AWS spending with key metrics and trends.

Key Features:

Financial Metrics Cards​

  • Past Month Spend: Historical spending for comparison
  • Current Month Spend: Real-time accumulated costs
  • Forecast: Projected month-end spending based on current trends
  • Daily Average: Average daily spend for budgeting

Example Metrics (from demo):

Past Month (Sep 2025):  $1,878,135
Current Month (Oct 2025): $1,539,490
Forecast:                $1,906,001
Daily Average:           $58,046

Service-Wise Cost Breakup Trend​

Interactive table showing daily costs by AWS service:

Service18-Oct19-Oct20-Oct21-Oct22-Oct23-Oct24-OctTotal
Elastic Compute Cloud$14,412$14,927$15,054$15,036$14,962$14,709$6,554$95,655
Savings Plans for Compute$7,476$7,476$7,476$7,476$7,476$7,476$7,476$52,332
Relational Database Service$7,737$7,730$7,733$7,661$7,659$7,565$3,636$49,710

Value: Immediately identify which services are driving costs and spot unusual spending patterns (highlighted in red/green).

Quick Recommendations Panel​

Displays top cost-saving opportunities directly on the dashboard:

Recommendations:
- Leverage Different S3 Storage Classes     $33,045 savings
- Reduce Data Transfer with CloudFront     $20,309 savings
- Move to Lower Cost Instances             $12,528 savings

Cost Breakup Dashboards​

Quick access to detailed cost analysis by service:

  • Elastic Compute Cloud: $258,021
  • Data Transfer: $202,314
  • Simple Storage Service: $155,982
  • Amazon CloudFront: $49,519
  • Amazon CloudWatch: $25,388

Billing Console​

Billing Console

Purpose: Detailed billing records interface for granular analysis and exports.

Key Features:

  • Monthly/Weekly/Daily Views: Switch between aggregation levels
  • Filter Capabilities: Filter by service, account, region, tags
  • CSV Export: Download billing data for external analysis
  • Invoice Access: Direct access to AWS invoices
  • Cost Allocation Tags: View costs grouped by custom tags

Use Cases:

  • Finance teams reconciling AWS invoices
  • FinOps teams performing chargeback/showback
  • Auditors reviewing cloud spending

Account-Wise Breakup​

Account-Wise Breakup

Purpose: Cost visibility across multiple AWS accounts in an Organization.

Key Features:

  • Account Hierarchy: Visualize cost distribution across accounts
  • Drill-Down: Click any account to see service-level breakdown
  • Trend Analysis: Compare account spending over time
  • Cost Allocation: Assign accounts to business units or cost centers

Value: Essential for enterprises with multi-account AWS Organizations (50+ accounts typical).

Service-Specific Analysis​

AWS Lens provides dedicated dashboards for major AWS services, each optimized for that service's unique cost drivers.

Compute Dashboard​

Compute Dashboard

Purpose: Analyze EC2, ECS, EKS, Lambda, and other compute service costs.

Analysis Dimensions:

Group By Options​

  • Service: EC2, ECS, Lambda, Fargate, Batch
  • Region: us-east-1, eu-west-1, ap-southeast-1, etc.
  • Operating System: Linux, Windows, RHEL, SUSE, Ubuntu
  • Pricing Type: On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, Savings Plans

Cost Type Selection:

  • Unblended: Actual costs before discounts
  • Amortized: Spread RI/SP upfront costs over time
  • DDE: Data Direct Exchange pricing

Interactive Charts:

  • Service breakdown (bar charts showing cost distribution)
  • Regional distribution (geographic cost analysis)
  • Operating system mix (identify Windows licensing costs)
  • Pricing type efficiency (measure reservation coverage)

Heatmap Visualization: Shows cost intensity by time and dimension for pattern identification.

Example Insights:

  • "Windows instances cost 3x more than Linux—can we migrate?"
  • "us-east-1 compute is 40% of total—can we use cheaper regions?"
  • "Only 60% Reserved Instance coverage—opportunity for more RIs"

Storage Dashboard (S3)​

S3 Dashboard

Purpose: S3 storage cost analysis and optimization.

Analysis Dimensions:

  • Storage Class (Standard, IA, Glacier, Deep Archive)
  • Bucket Name
  • Region
  • Request Costs (GET, PUT, DELETE)

Key Metrics:

  • Storage volume (TB)
  • Request counts
  • Data transfer (ingress/egress)
  • Storage class distribution

Optimization Opportunities:

  • Lifecycle policies to move data to cheaper storage classes
  • Intelligent-Tiering adoption
  • Unnecessary bucket identification

Database Dashboard (RDS)​

RDS Dashboard

Purpose: RDS, Aurora, and other database cost analysis.

Analysis Dimensions:

  • Database Engine (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, Aurora)
  • Instance Type (db.r5.xlarge, db.t3.medium, etc.)
  • Deployment (Single-AZ, Multi-AZ)
  • Region

Key Metrics:

  • Instance hours
  • Storage costs (EBS volumes)
  • Backup costs
  • Data transfer costs

Optimization Opportunities:

  • Right-size over-provisioned instances
  • Reserved Instance purchases
  • Multi-AZ vs Single-AZ cost trade-offs

Data Transfer Dashboard​

Data Transfer Dashboard

Purpose: Network data transfer cost analysis (often 10-15% of AWS bill).

Analysis Dimensions:

  • Transfer Type (inter-region, internet egress, CloudFront)
  • Source Region
  • Destination Region
  • Service (EC2, S3, RDS generating transfer)

Key Metrics:

  • Data volume transferred (GB/TB)
  • Cost per GB
  • Top transfer routes

Optimization Opportunities:

  • Use CloudFront CDN to reduce origin transfer
  • Consolidate resources in same region
  • Optimize cross-region replication

Additional Service Dashboards​

AWS Lens includes specialized dashboards for:

  • ElastiCache (/img/lens/screenshots/09-elasticache.png): Redis and Memcached analysis
  • Redshift (/img/lens/screenshots/10-redshift.png): Data warehouse cost tracking
  • OpenSearch (/img/lens/screenshots/11-opensearch.png): Search service analysis
  • CloudFront (/img/lens/screenshots/12-cloudfront.png): CDN cost and usage

Each dashboard follows the same multi-dimensional analysis pattern, tailored to the service's cost drivers.

Cost Explorer & Analytics​

Cost Explorer

Purpose: Interactive cost analysis tool—think "AWS Cost Explorer on steroids."

Grouping Dimensions​

Analyze costs by any combination of:

DimensionExamples
ServiceEC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, etc.
Instance Typet3.micro, r5.xlarge, c5.2xlarge
AccountProduction, Staging, Development accounts
Usage TypeBoxUsage (compute), DataTransfer-Out, Storage
PlatformLinux, Windows, RHEL
Regionus-east-1, eu-west-1, ap-south-1
Usage Type GroupEC2 Instances, Data Transfer, Storage
TagsEnvironment, Team, Project, Cost Center

Date Range Options​

  • Pre-defined: Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, MTD, Last Month, Last 3 Months, Last 6 Months, Last 12 Months, YTD
  • Custom: Any date range from billing history start to today

Visualization Options​

  1. Grouped Chart: Stacked bar chart showing cost breakdown
  2. Trend Chart: Line chart showing spending over time
  3. Pie Chart: Proportional cost distribution
  4. Table View: Detailed tabular data with export

Saved Reports​

Purpose: Bookmark frequently-used analyses for quick access.

Saved Reports

Features:

  • Save any Cost Explorer query with filters
  • Name and describe reports
  • Share reports with team members
  • Schedule automatic regeneration

Example Saved Reports:

  • "Production Environment Monthly Costs by Service"
  • "Data Transfer Costs by Region (Last 90 Days)"
  • "Engineering Team Costs (Tag-based)"
  • "Windows vs Linux Compute Cost Comparison"

Reservation Intelligence​

Reservations Summary​

RI Summary

Purpose: Portfolio view of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans.

Key Metrics:

  • Total RI Investment: Upfront and ongoing costs
  • Active Reservations: Count and types
  • Expiring Soon: Reservations needing renewal decisions
  • Coverage %: Percentage of eligible usage covered

Reservation Types:

  • EC2 Reserved Instances (Standard, Convertible)
  • RDS Reserved Instances
  • ElastiCache Reserved Nodes
  • Redshift Reserved Nodes
  • Compute Savings Plans
  • EC2 Instance Savings Plans
  • SageMaker Savings Plans

Utilization Tracking​

RI Utilization

Purpose: Monitor reservation usage to ensure ROI.

Key Metrics:

  • Utilization %: How much of purchased capacity is actually used
  • Coverage %: What percentage of eligible usage is covered by reservations
  • On-Demand Equivalent: What these resources would cost at on-demand rates
  • Net Savings: Actual savings realized from reservations

Alerts:

  • Low utilization warnings (below 80%)
  • Coverage gap notifications
  • Expiration reminders (60, 30, 7 days)

Optimization Actions:

  • High Utilization (above 95%): Consider purchasing more
  • Low Utilization (below 70%): Consider modifying or selling on RI Marketplace
  • Low Coverage (below 60%): Opportunities for new RIs/SPs

Cost Optimization Engine​

Recommendations

Purpose: AI-driven identification of cost reduction opportunities.

Recommendation Categories​

1. Storage Optimization​

Example: Leverage Different S3 Storage Classes

  • Monthly Savings: $33,045
  • Description: Move infrequently accessed S3 objects to Standard-IA or Glacier
  • Implementation: Apply S3 Lifecycle policies
  • Effort: Low (configuration change)
  • Risk: Very Low (automated by AWS)

2. Network Optimization​

Example: Reduce Data Transfer with CloudFront

  • Monthly Savings: $20,309
  • Description: Use CloudFront CDN to cache content closer to users
  • Implementation: Create CloudFront distribution
  • Effort: Medium (requires CDN setup and testing)
  • Risk: Low (improves performance while reducing cost)

3. Compute Right-Sizing​

Example: Move to Lower Cost Instances

  • Monthly Savings: $12,528
  • Description: Right-size over-provisioned EC2 instances based on CPU/memory utilization
  • Implementation: Change instance types during maintenance window
  • Effort: Medium (requires testing)
  • Risk: Low if based on actual utilization data

4. Database Optimization​

Example: Migrate from Redis to Valkey

  • Monthly Savings: $6,445
  • Description: Migrate to open-source Valkey (Redis-compatible)
  • Implementation: Deploy Valkey, migrate data, switch applications
  • Effort: High (application changes needed)
  • Risk: Medium (requires testing)

5. Cleanup & Hygiene​

Example: Delete Snapshots Older Than 90 Days

  • Monthly Savings: $3,751
  • Description: Remove old EBS snapshots no longer needed for backup
  • Implementation: Audit snapshots, implement deletion policy
  • Effort: Low (script-based cleanup)
  • Risk: Medium (ensure backups not needed)

Example: Idle Network Resources

  • Monthly Savings: $3,728
  • Description: Terminate unused Elastic IPs, NAT Gateways, Load Balancers
  • Implementation: Audit idle resources, schedule deletion
  • Effort: Low (manual cleanup)
  • Risk: Low (resources not in use)

6. Licensing Optimization​

Example: Upgrade Version to Remove Extended Support Cost

  • Monthly Savings: $2,190
  • Description: Upgrade RDS databases to supported versions to avoid extended support fees
  • Implementation: Plan and execute database upgrades
  • Effort: High (requires testing)
  • Risk: Medium (database upgrades have downtime)

Recommendation Workflow​

1. Review Recommendations → Browse sorted list of opportunities
2. Assess Impact          → Evaluate savings vs effort vs risk
3. Prioritize             → Select high-impact, low-risk items first
4. Implement              → Follow step-by-step guidance
5. Track Savings          → Monitor actual savings realized

Continuous Learning​

The recommendation engine continuously learns from:

  • Your historical usage patterns
  • Industry best practices
  • AWS pricing changes
  • New AWS services and features

As your infrastructure evolves, new recommendations appear automatically.

Multi-Account Management​

Multi-Account View (MAV)​

Purpose: Manage cost visibility across hundreds of AWS accounts.

Features:

Account Hierarchy​

  • Visualize AWS Organization structure (Organizational Units, accounts)
  • Inherit policies from parent OUs
  • Manage access at OU or account level

Cross-Account Analysis​

  • Compare spending across accounts
  • Identify outliers (accounts with unusual spending)
  • Aggregate costs by business unit, team, or environment

Account Groups​

Create logical groups for reporting:

  • By Environment: Production, Staging, Development, QA
  • By Business Unit: Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Operations
  • By Geography: US Accounts, EMEA Accounts, APAC Accounts
  • By Project: Project Alpha, Project Beta, Project Gamma

Example: "Show me total production environment costs across all accounts in Engineering business unit"

Reporting & Alerts​

Saved Reports​

Saved Reports

Purpose: Automated recurring cost reports delivered to stakeholders.

Report Types:

Standard Reports​

  • Monthly Cost Summary (by service, account, region)
  • Daily Spend Report (for real-time monitoring)
  • Weekly Trend Report (identify unusual patterns)
  • RI/SP Utilization Report (ensure reservation ROI)
  • Anomaly Report (unexpected cost spikes)

Custom Reports​

Build reports matching your organization's needs:

  • Chargeback reports (costs by cost center/business unit)
  • Engineering team reports (costs by tag: Team=DataScience)
  • Project-based reports (track project cloud spend)
  • Service-specific reports (S3 costs only, RDS costs only)

Delivery Options:

  • Email (PDF, CSV, Excel)
  • Slack channel
  • Microsoft Teams
  • S3 bucket (for automated processing)

Scheduling:

  • Daily at specified time
  • Weekly on specific day
  • Monthly on specific date
  • On-demand manual generation

Alerts & Notifications​

Alert Types:

Budget Alerts​

  • Threshold Alerts: Notify when spending reaches % of budget (50%, 75%, 90%, 100%)
  • Forecast Alerts: Warn if forecasted month-end spend will exceed budget
  • Period-over-Period: Alert on unusual % increase vs previous period

Anomaly Alerts​

  • Service Anomalies: Unusual spending in specific service (e.g., S3 spike)
  • Account Anomalies: Unusual activity in specific account
  • Regional Anomalies: Unexpected costs in specific region

Reservation Alerts​

  • Low Utilization: RI/SP usage below threshold (below 75%)
  • Expiration: Reservation expiring in 60/30/7 days
  • Coverage Gap: Opportunity to purchase more reservations

Alert Channels:

  • Email
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • PagerDuty (for critical alerts)
  • Webhook (for custom integrations)

Administration & Governance​

User Management​

User Management

Purpose: Control access to cost data and features.

Features:

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)​

Define roles with specific permissions:

  • Viewer: Read-only access to dashboards and reports
  • Analyst: Viewer + ability to create custom reports and saved views
  • Optimizer: Analyst + ability to acknowledge and implement recommendations
  • Administrator: Full access including user management and settings

Multi-Tenancy​

  • Isolate cost data by business unit, geography, or environment
  • Users only see costs for their assigned accounts/tags
  • Ensure compliance with data privacy requirements

SSO Integration​

  • SAML 2.0: Integrate with Okta, Azure AD, Auth0, OneLogin
  • OAuth: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365
  • LDAP: On-premise Active Directory

Tag Management​

Tag Management

Purpose: Enforce tagging policies for accurate cost allocation.

Features:

Tag Discovery​

  • Automatically discover all tags used across AWS accounts
  • Identify untagged resources
  • Suggest standard tag keys

Tag Policies​

  • Define required tags (Environment, Owner, CostCenter, Project)
  • Set allowed values (Environment: Production|Staging|Development)
  • Alert on non-compliant resources

Cost Allocation Tags​

  • Activate AWS cost allocation tags
  • Create virtual tags (combine multiple tags)
  • Map tags to business units or cost centers

Example Tag Hierarchy:

Environment: Production
  ├─ Business Unit: Engineering
  │   ├─ Team: Backend
  │   ├─ Team: Frontend
  │   └─ Team: Data Engineering
  └─ Business Unit: Operations
      ├─ Team: DevOps
      └─ Team: SRE

Preferences & Configuration​

System Preferences:

  • Currency: USD, EUR, GBP, INR, etc.
  • Date Format: MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY
  • Timezone: For reports and alerts
  • Fiscal Year: Calendar year or custom fiscal year
  • Default Date Range: Dashboard default view (Last 30 Days, MTD, etc.)

Cost Display Options:

  • Cost Type: Unblended, Amortized, Net Amortized
  • Precision: Show costs to 2, 3, or 4 decimal places
  • Include Credits: Include/exclude AWS credits in totals
  • Include Refunds: Include/exclude refunds

Notification Preferences:

  • Email digest frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Alert quiet hours (don't send alerts overnight)
  • Alert severity thresholds

Integration Capabilities​

API Access​

AWS Lens provides REST APIs for:

  • Cost Data: Programmatic access to cost and usage data
  • Recommendations: Fetch optimization recommendations
  • Reports: Generate reports on-demand
  • Alerts: Configure and manage alerts
  • User Management: Automate user provisioning

Use Cases:

  • Embed cost widgets in internal portals
  • Integrate cost data into business intelligence tools
  • Build custom automation workflows
  • Create CI/CD cost gates

Data Export​

Export Formats:

  • CSV (for Excel analysis)
  • JSON (for programmatic processing)
  • Parquet (for data warehouse loading)
  • API (real-time access)

Export Destinations:

  • S3 bucket (automated daily export)
  • Snowflake (direct integration)
  • Redshift (data warehouse)
  • BigQuery (multi-cloud analytics)

Next Steps​

Get Hands-On​

For questions about specific features or to request a demo, contact support@cloudkeeper.com