3 customisable OKR examples for Cloud Cost Management

What are Cloud Cost Management OKRs?

The OKR acronym stands for Objectives and Key Results. It's a goal-setting framework that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s, and it became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s. OKRs helps teams has a shared language to set ambitious goals and track progress towards them.

Crafting effective OKRs can be challenging, particularly for beginners. Emphasizing outcomes rather than projects should be the core of your planning.

We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Cloud Cost Management to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.

Building your own Cloud Cost Management OKRs with AI

While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.

Our customisable Cloud Cost Management OKRs examples

You will find in the next section many different Cloud Cost Management Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).

Hope you'll find this helpful!

1OKRs to implement effective cloud cost management and budget alignment strategies

  • ObjectiveImplement effective cloud cost management and budget alignment strategies
  • Key ResultIncrease forecast accuracy for cloud spending by 20% via predictive analytics
  • TaskContinuously improve data models for better forecasting accuracy
  • TaskImplement rigorous testing and validation of predictive models
  • TaskDevelop precise predictive analytics algorithms for cloud spending
  • Key ResultReduce overall cloud expenditure by 15% using cost-optimization strategies
  • TaskIdentify and eliminate underutilized or idle cloud resources
  • TaskOptimize cloud storage and data transfer processes
  • TaskImplement automation and scale-down capabilities
  • Key ResultImplement a cloud cost governance framework that achieves 100% budget adherence
  • TaskEstablish financial controls and reporting tools
  • TaskMonitor cost usage and optimize resources regularly
  • TaskDefine a strict budget for your cloud services

2OKRs to enhance cloud efficiency while managing costs

  • ObjectiveEnhance cloud efficiency while managing costs
  • Key ResultReduce cloud resource wastage by 20% without affecting performance
  • TaskEnhance cloud resource allocation based on usage patterns
  • TaskDelete unused virtual machines and storage volumes
  • TaskImplement efficient workload balancing on existing cloud infrastructure
  • Key ResultImprove cloud server response time by 15%
  • TaskOptimize database queries and indexing
  • TaskUpgrade server infrastructure to a higher-performance specification
  • TaskImplement load balancing across multiple cloud servers
  • Key ResultDecrease cloud service expenditure by 10% through efficient resource management
  • TaskAnalyze current cloud service usage to identify wastage
  • TaskEnforce strict policies for cloud service usage
  • TaskDevelop a plan to consolidate and optimize resources

3OKRs to enhance scalability and efficiency of deployed cloud systems

  • ObjectiveEnhance scalability and efficiency of deployed cloud systems
  • Key ResultReduce infrastructure costs by 15% through optimization of cloud services
  • TaskImplement cost-efficient cloud service solutions
  • TaskIdentify potential areas for resource optimization
  • TaskPerform comprehensive audit of existing cloud service usage
  • Key ResultSuccessfully achieve 99.9% uptime across all deployed cloud services
  • TaskImplement robust redundancy measures for every service
  • TaskUtilize real-time notifications for immediate incident response
  • TaskRegularly monitor and assess cloud service performance and health
  • Key ResultImplement upgrades for 3 existing cloud architectures to improve performance benchmarks
  • TaskExecute upgrades on the 3 existing systems
  • TaskResearch available cloud architecture upgrades
  • TaskIdentify performance shortcomings in current cloud architectures

Cloud Cost Management OKR best practices to boost success

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tability Insights DashboardTability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRs

Tip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tability Insights DashboardTability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

How to turn your Cloud Cost Management OKRs in a strategy map

OKRs without regular progress updates are just KPIs. You'll need to update progress on your OKRs every week to get the full benefits from the framework. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

  • It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
  • It will highlight poorly set OKRs
  • It will surface execution risks
  • It improves transparency and accountability

We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.

A strategy map in TabilityTability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.

More Cloud Cost Management OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

OKRs resources

Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.

What's next? Try Tability's goal-setting AI

You can create an iterate on your OKRs using Tability's unique goal-setting AI.

Watch the demo below, then hop on the platform for a free trial.

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