Key Cost Source Reports

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The table below identifies key reports that are available once you have configured the Cost Source component. Use the table as you review the reports to identify the objectives of the reports, as well as the questions addressed by the reports.

Report Audience Objectives Questions Addressed
Costing Standard - Summary
  • CIOs
  • IT Management
  • Understand where IT spend is occurring and quickly identify outliers or unplanned deviations by reviewing the charts.
  • Compare YTD and Annual spend to plan by tower, cost pool, internal vs. external labor and top projects by reviewing the tables.
  • Drill into a summary for a specific tower, cost pool, labor type, or project by clicking an item in one of the tables.
  • Where am I spending most of my money? Is it reasonable?
  • Where is my spend not on track to meet plan?
  • Do I have areas under budget that balance this overspend?
Costing Standard Summary - Finance
  • CIOs
  • IT Management
  • View budget variance trend over past 13 months by Cost Pool.
  • Identify top spend and variance by Cost Center to understand who is responsible.
  • How much have I spent by cost pool so far this year?
  • Am I on track to hit the budget for this cost category?
  • How has the variance trended over the past 13-months?
  • Are their unusual spikes or deviations to analyze?
IT Finance - Summary
  • IT Finance personnel
  • Review the spend and budget KPIs.
  • Understand the cumulative spend YTD and the projected annual spend.
  • Identify budget variance by cost pool.
  • Identify top spend and variance by cost pool (e.g.: cost category) using the Cost by Cost Pool chart and the Cost to Budget by Cost Pool table.

Use the information presented at the top of the report to answer the following questions:

  • How is my spend tracking against budget this year?
  • Am I projected to be over or under budget for the year?
  • Which cost pools are over or under budget?

Use the information presented at the bottom of the report to answer the following questions:

  • How much have I spent by cost pool this year?
  • Where is my biggest spend?
  • Where is my biggest variance -- by amount and by percent?
  • What amount of variance or percent variance is material compared to my overall IT spend?
  • Is action required to mitigate budget risk?
IT Finance - Cost Pool
  • IT Finance personnel
  • View fixed/variable spend and OpEx/CapEx spend by cost pool.

You can use the information presented on this report to answer the following questions:

  • If demand or consumption drops, do I have flexibility to reduce spend?
  • Where could I consider sourcing changes that would create a more variable cost structure?
  • What financial agility is appropriate for our company at this time? Should I set a percent variable target?
  • How does capitalization vary by cost pool?
  • Where is most of my spend capitalized?
Data Dimensions - Cost Source
  • TBM administrator
  • Assess the completeness of data. Completeness is measured as the number of cells in the supporting data sets that have values. For example, a completeness score of 80% indicates that 80% of the cells have values. In general, a score of 80% or above is acceptable.
  • Assess the validity of the data. Validity is determined by comparing the values in the data to a list of acceptable values you uploaded into the application. In general, a score of 80% or above is acceptable.
  • Assess the uniqueness of the data. In general, a score of 80% or above is acceptable.
  • Is my data complete enough to make informed decisions?
  • Is the data correct?