Create, edit, and manage allocations

Allocations are defined with allocation rules. Depending on the number of rules included, allocations are categorized as single-rule and group allocations.

Required permissions

• To create an allocation, you must have the Cloud Analytics Admin or Allocations Admin permission.

• To edit an allocation, you must have the Cloud Analytics Admin or Allocations Admin permission, and be the Owner of the allocation or have Editor permission on it.

• To delete an allocation, you must have the Cloud Analytics Admin or Allocations Admin permission, and be the Owner of the allocation.

Create an allocation rule

When creating an allocation rule, you need to choose its dimensions and define the rule logic. You can create an allocation rule either from scratch or based on a preset allocation or a custom allocation created by others.

Create from scratch

To create a new allocation rule from scratch:

1. Sign in to the DoiT console, select Allocation > Allocations from the top navigation mega menu.

2. Select Create allocation.

3. Enter a name for the new rule.

   Allowed characters: numbers (0-9), lowercase letters (a-z), uppercase letters (A-Z), underscore (_), dash (-), period (.), comma (,), colon (:), parentheses (()), square brackets ([]), percent (%), ampersand (&), and white space (blank).

   

4. Add a dimension.

   1. Select a dimension, label, or tag from the drop-down list, and filter the results to define the condition of the dimension.

      You can choose a regex operator (matches regex, does not match regex) in the Condition drop-down to filter by regular expressions. You can also choose another allocation rule.

   2. Repeat the step above to add more dimensions if needed.

      If you're adding other allocation rules to create a nested rule, note that the maximum reference depth is three.

      For example, if Rule A refers to Rule B, and Rule B refers to Rule C, then Rule C cannot refer to further rules. Additionally, other rules cannot reference Rule A.

   3. Define the allocation rule logic if there is more than one dimension.

      • Each dimension and its condition form an operant.

      • Each operant is identified by a capital letter, which also indicates the operant's position in the sequence. If you remove an operant, the identifiers of the following operants are automatically adjusted.

      • By default, operants are joined by the AND operator. Allowed operators: AND, OR, NOT.

      Below is an example allocation rule with two operants.

      

   4. (Optional) Define value extraction to use dimension values as grouping names.

   5. (Optional) Set validity periods to time bound the rule.

   6. Save the configuration to create the single rule.

Create from an existing rule

To create an allocation rule based on an existing one:

1. Select Use existing rule.

2. Select a rule from the drop-down list.

   

   You can select the open-in-new-tab icon next to the rule name to view the rule's configuration in a new tab.

3. Choose one of the following options to proceed:

   • Select the content copy icon to duplicate the chosen rule. This option adds a new rule while keeping the original one unchanged. If you intend to create a single rule, make sure to remove the original one from the allocation.

   • Select Make a copy to turn the chosen rule into a copy of itself so you can edit it without affecting the original one.

   • If you have write permission on the rule, you can update it directly. Be aware that this will affect all other allocations that use this rule.

4. Name the updated rule and save your configurations.

Extract value from a dimension

By default, an allocation rule assigns its rule name to all matching items without distinction. Value extraction lets you assign the value of selected dimensions to matching items, so you can split costs based on resource metadata within a single rule.

To configure value extraction:

1. When creating or editing an allocation rule with at least one dimension defined, select the Extract value from a dimension checkbox.

   

2. Select a dimension to use as the grouping name. To add additional dimensions, select Add fallback source.

   • You can add up to five sources. The system evaluates the sources from top to bottom. The first source that returns a non-empty value is used as the grouping name for that cost item.

   • Fixed dimension sources are limited to raw table columns, such as region, project ID, and service description. Derived dimensions (such as credits) and date dimensions are not available as extraction sources.

3. Specify how to handle matching items if no value is found in the dimension sources:

   • Use fallback value: Group the items under the text you specify in the Fallback value field.

   • Leave unallocated (single rule): Group the items under [Allocation N/A]

   • Continue to next rule (group): Skip this rule and evaluate the items by the next one in the allocation.

4. Save the changes.

After you save an allocation with value extraction, the extracted values appear wherever the allocation is used as a dimension, such as Cloud Analytics reports, budgets, alerts, and anomalies.

See an example report with value extraction.

Time bound a rule

By default, an allocation rule applies to costs across all dates. With validity periods, you can restrict a rule to only match costs that fall within specific date ranges. This is useful when a rule should apply only during a defined time window.

To set validity periods:

1. When creating or editing a rule, select the calendar icon (

   ) to open the Time bound this rule dialog.

2. Enter a start date and an end date for the period. Both bounds are inclusive.

   

   • To leave the first period open-ended at the start, clear the start date. Only the first period can have an empty start date.

   • To leave the last period open-ended at the end, clear the end date. Only the last period can have an empty end date.

3. To add more periods, select Add period. Adjacent periods must not overlap.

4. Select Done to save the periods.

When a rule has validity periods, only costs with dates that fall within one of the defined periods are matched. Costs outside all periods are not affected.

Create a group allocation

Group allocations are used to segment shared data among multiple groupings. Be aware of the following when creating a group allocation:

• Any new rules defined while creating the group allocation are also created as individual single allocations.

• Existing rules that are updated during the process will retain the changes, which also affect any other group allocations that use them.

To create a group allocation:

1. In the DoiT console, select Allocation > Allocations from the top navigation mega menu, and then select Create allocation.

2. Define the first rule. You can either create a new rule or use an existing one.

3. Select + Add rule to add the second rule (or select Add unallocated rule to create a group with one allocation rule).

   Once you add the second rule, an Unallocated rule will be automatically added to the end.

   

4. Repeat the step above to add more rules and adjust the order using the Drag handle icon

   if needed.

   • Shared data is assigned to the allocation rule that appears earlier in the list.

   • The Unallocated rule stays at the bottom. You can rename it but not change its position or remove it.

5. Save the configuration. You'll be asked to name the allocation group first if you haven't done so.

Management options

Duplicate an allocation

You can duplicate an allocation directly on the main Allocations screen:

1. Locate the allocation of interest.

2. Select the kebab menu (⋮) at the rightmost end of the entry, and then select Duplicate allocation.

This approach applies to both single and group type of allocations.

Alternatively, you can duplicate from the allocation editor. Select the allocation name to open it, then select Duplicate allocation in the editor footer.

Edit an allocation

You can edit an allocation if you have the required permissions.

Note

Updating an existing allocation may impact other components in the console that use it.

To edit an allocation:

1. Locate it on the main Allocations screen.

2. Select its name to open its configuration page and edit it.

You can also rename an allocation directly on the main Allocations screen:

1. Select the kebab menu (⋮) at the rightmost end of the entry.

2. Select Rename allocation.

Delete an allocation

• You can delete an allocation if you have the required permissions.

• You cannot delete an allocation that is in use by another component in the console, including reports, alerts, budgets, metrics, organizations, daily digests, or if other allocations refer to it.

To delete an individual allocation:

1. Navigate to the main Allocations screen.

2. Locate the allocation of interest, select the kebab menu (⋮) at the rightmost end of the entry, and then select Delete.

To delete multiple allocations at once:

1. Select the checkbox of each allocation that you want to delete. You can filter allocation by their properties.

2. Select the Delete button next to the Filter to perform a batch delete.

You'll be asked to confirm the deletion before it's executed.

Example: Value extraction

The example allocation rule below defines two source dimensions for extracting the grouping name for matching items, plus a fallback value.

When grouping data by the allocation rule, the report rows show the extracted dimension value instead of the static rule name.