# G14 — Usage Optimization

- Publisher: FinOps Foundation
- Primary source: [Usage Optimization](https://www.finops.org/framework/capabilities/usage-optimization/)
- Observed: 2026-10-22 (Europe/Berlin session date)
- Publication date: unknown — no reliable date established from the read
- Updated date: unknown — no reliable date established from the read
- Read status: opened and relevant section read through web tool
- Evidence locator: Opening activities; Walk maturity; Engineering functional activities
- Evidence class: primary maintainer/provider guidance; not an independent impact study

## Short evidence fragment

> Assess the return on investment of optimization activities

## Researcher's reading note

Optimization guidance explicitly weighs expected savings, avoidance and efficiency gains against labor, risk, disruption and operational/tooling costs; it recommends tracking actual versus estimated impact.

## Limits and use

Practice guidance; no universal engineering-hour rate, payback cutoff or achievable savings percentage follows from it.

## Retention

This card preserves a short evidence fragment and an original reading note; full source text is not copied. FinOps/FOCUS adaptations should credit the FinOps Foundation / FOCUS as applicable (their pages state CC BY 4.0). Re-open mutable documentation before implementing controls.