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LSCOST01-BP01 Establish and implement a comprehensive financial governance framework - Life Sciences Lens
Implementation guidance

LSCOST01-BP01 Establish and implement a comprehensive financial governance framework

A financial governance framework in life sciences cloud management establishes the structure, policies, and processes for making financial decisions related to cloud usage. It verifies that cloud spending aligns with research priorities, regulatory requirements, and overall business objectives.

Desired outcome: A mature, organization-wide financial governance environment that provides complete visibility and control over cloud spending across each life sciences research initiative, enabling predictable budget management, automated cost optimization, and strategic alignment between cloud investments and research outcomes while adhering to regulatory and organizational financial policies.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Medium

Implementation guidance

Build a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) with representatives from research, IT, finance, and security.

Develop a cloud cost allocation model that ties expenses to specific research projects or therapeutic areas.

Implement tagging policies and service control policies (SCPs) to enforce tagging strategies across your organization.

Establish approval workflows for high-cost cloud resources with different thresholds for various research stages. For example, consider using AWS Budgets for cost management and Service Catalog for deployment of pre-approved services.

Implementation steps

  1. Form the Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE):

    • Identify key stakeholders from your organization's departments.

    • Define roles and responsibilities for each CCoE member.

    • Schedule regular CCoE meetings to oversee the framework implementation.

  2. Develop the cloud cost allocation model:

    • Map out existing research projects and therapeutic areas.

    • Create a cost structure that links cloud expenses to specific initiatives.

    • Design a reporting system to track and allocate costs accurately.

  3. Implement tagging policies:

    • Define a comprehensive tagging strategy for cloud resources.

    • Create service control policies (SCPs) to enforce the tagging rules.

    • Configure automated tagging where possible to improve consistency.

  4. Establish approval workflows:

    • Define thresholds for high-cost cloud resources at different research stages

    • Set up AWS Budgets for cost management:

      • Create budget alerts for various spending thresholds.

      • Configure notifications for key stakeholders when budgets are approaching limits.

    • Implement Service Catalog:

      • Create a portfolio of pre-approved services and resources.

      • Set up governance and access controls for the Service Catalog.

  5. Continuous improvement:

    • Stay informed about new cloud services and cost optimization strategies.

    • Regularly update the framework to incorporate best practices and new technologies.