Proactive Cost Increase Notification

Subject: Cloud Cost Increase - Infrastructure Optimization Update

Hi [Finance Team],

I’m writing to inform you of a cloud infrastructure cost increase and the optimization plan underway.

SITUATION:
Our cloud infrastructure costs increased 40% this month due to unexpected scaling requirements. Current monthly spend: [previous amount] → [new amount].

IMPACT:

• Monthly budget variance: 40% above forecast
• Year-end projection: [X]% over annual cloud budget if unaddressed
• Root cause: Traffic growth exceeded projections + inefficient resource allocation

ACTIONS TAKEN:

• Comprehensive infrastructure audit completed
• Optimization plan developed and approved by Engineering leadership
• Implementation began this week

OPTIMIZATION PLAN:
The plan targets 35-40% cost reduction through:

• Right-sizing over-provisioned instances (est. 15% savings)
• Implementing auto-scaling policies (est. 10% savings)
• Storage tier optimization (est. 8% savings)
• Reserved instance commitments for stable workloads (est. 7% savings)

TIMELINE:

• Week 1-2 (Current): Quick wins (right-sizing, auto-scaling implementation)
• Week 3-4: Storage optimization and reserved instance analysis
• Week 5: Reserved instance commitments finalized
• Expected return to budget baseline: End of Month 2

BUDGET IMPACT:

• Month 1 (current): 40% over budget
• Month 2: 15-20% over budget (as optimizations take effect)
• Month 3+: Return to baseline or 5-10% below (from efficiency gains)

DECISION NEEDED:
No action required from Finance at this time. This is FYI for budget tracking and forecasting purposes.

NEXT UPDATE:
I’ll provide a progress report in 2 weeks showing actual cost reductions achieved and confirming Month 3 projections.

Available if you have questions about the cost analysis or optimization approach.

[Your name]