Governance Checks

Governance Checks is a compliance and resource management feature in CloudSpend. It helps you identify and manage non-compliant resources across your cloud accounts. As your environment expands across multiple clouds, keeping resources aligned with internal policies becomes harder. Governance Checks gives you a clear way to monitor compliance, maintain visibility, and ensure that every resource meets your organizational standards.

Overview

Governance Checks monitor your cloud resources and highlight anything that does not meet the compliance conditions you define. When a resource falls outside those conditions, it is marked as non-compliant. You can review the full compliance history for each governance check, including the reason for every failure, so you understand exactly what went wrong and when it occurred.

The feature shows how many times each governance check has been violated and lists all resources that are currently non-compliant. This gives you a complete view of past compliance gaps and ongoing issues that need attention. You can also set a threshold for every governance check. When the number of non-compliant resources goes beyond the value you set, CloudSpend alerts you. This helps you respond on time instead of discovering compliance issues later in billing or audit reviews.

Governance

Benefits of Governance Checks

Use cases

Correcting non-compliant compute resources

A team deploys new compute instances, but some do not meet the conditions defined in the governance check for their environment or region. Governance Checks mark those instances as non-compliant. The team updates them to meet the required standards and restores accurate reporting.

Identifying non-compliant storage resources

During a deployment, new storage buckets appear that do not match the compliance conditions set in a governance check. These are immediately flagged as non-compliant. The non-compliant count crosses the alert threshold, and the team is notified. They update the resources to bring them back into compliance before billing begins.

Maintaining compliance across multi-account setups

A company running several cloud accounts follows strict internal governance policies. When new resources fail to meet the conditions defined in the governance checks, CloudSpend flags them as non-compliant. The operations team fixes the issues and keeps the environment aligned with audit expectations.

Supporting accurate budgeting and cost reviews

A finance team depends on compliant resource data for department wise cost tracking. When a few resources fall out of compliance, the cost reports become unreliable. Governance Checks catch these resources early so budgeting and financial reviews remain accurate.

Configuring Governance Checks

To configure governance checks for Accounts, Business Units, and Reports follow the steps mentioned in the below sections.

Accounts

You can set one or more governance checks in your cost account.

Accounts

To configure governance check for your cost accounts:

  1. Go to the CloudSpend console.
  2. In the left navigation pane, choose Checks , and then select the Governance > Accounts tab.
  3. Click Configure Check and complete the following steps:
    1. Step 1: Choose Profile
    2. Step 2: Configure Details
    3. Step 3: Notification Settings

Step 1: Choose Profile

  1. In the Choose Profile page, enter the Display Name for the new governance check.
  2. Governance Profile : Select the applicable check. Governance Profiles are reusable across multiple checks. If you wish to create a new profile, click Add to open the Add Governance Profile dialog box. To edit a profile, click Edit . After you make the necessary changes, click Save.
  3. In the Add Governance Profile dialog box, enter the following details:
    • Display Name: Enter a display name for the new governance check.
    • Resource Type: Choose Accounts.
    • Accounts: Select the applicable account.
    • Click Next.
    • In the Configure Tag Validation section, specify the tag values and logical conditions that determine compliance. Each row represents a tag condition. Example:
      • Row 1: Tag key compute with value instance-1
      • Row 2: Tag key date with value aug25
      • Row 3: Tag key goog-resource-type with value networking.googleapis
        Tag Configuration
    • Logical Operators (AND/OR) : You can chain multiple conditions using AND/OR. In this example, the criteria are: ((1 AND 2) OR 3) as shown in the image. This means, a resource is compliant if it has both the first and second tag conditions OR it has the third condition.
    • Click the add icon + to add another tag condition. Click the delete icon to delete a condition.
    • Edit Expression: Fine-tune or manually edit the logical expression combining conditions.
    • Click Submit to create the Governance Profile.
  4. Click Next to proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Configure Details

  1. In the Configure Details page, enter the following details:
    • Period: The duration over which governance check is evaluated. Governance checks run on a monthly window so that resources marked non‑compliant in one month but fixed in the next do not conflict with each other. Only Monthly is supported for governance checks.
    • Unit: Choose how you want to measure non‑compliant resources for this check. Count tracks the number of untagged resources, while Percentage tracks the percentage of total resources that are untagged.
    • Non-compliance Threshold:The threshold value at which a governance check sends alerts when the count or percentage of untagged (non-compliant) resources exceeds the configured value. Enter your desired value.
  2. Click Next to proceed to step 3. To go back to the previous page, click Back.

Step 3: Notification Settings

  1. In the Notification Settings page, configure the following details:
    • Notify via: Choose the mode through which you'd like to get notified. If you select Users, the application will send notifications to the users whose email IDs are mapped. If you select Site24x7, the application will send notifications via the User Alert Groups.
    • IT Automation Templates: Automate incident remediation using IT Automation. This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the applicable template.
    • Third-party Services: You can choose to receive notifications via third-party services of your choice. This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the required third-party services.
    • Users/User Group/User Alert Group: Choose contacts from the drop-down menu. Anomaly alert notifications are triggered only once and can only be sent to email contacts with Administrator and User roles in CloudSpend.
  2. Click Submit.

You can view the newly configured governance check by navigating to Governance > Accounts.

Business Units

Governance BU

To configure governance checks for your Business Units:

  1. Go to the CloudSpend console.
  2. In the left navigation pane, choose Checks, and then select Governance > Business Units.
  3. Click Configure Check and complete the following steps:
    1. Step 1: Choose Profile
    2. Step 2: Configure Details
    3. Step 3: Notification Settings

Step 1: Choose Profile

  1. In the Choose profile page, enter the Display Name for the new governance check.
  2. Governance Profile: Select the applicable check. Governance Profiles are reusable across multiple checks. If you wish to create a new profile, click Add to open the Add Governance Profile dialog box. To edit a profile, click Edit. After you make the necessary changes, click Save.
  3. In the Add Governance Profile dialog box, enter the following details:
    • Display Name: Enter a display name for the new governance check.
    • Resource Type: Choose the Business Unit.
    • Business Units: Select the applicable business units.
    • Click Next.
    • In the Configure Tag Validation section, specify the tag values and logical conditions that determine compliance. Each row represents a tag condition.
    • Logical Operators (AND/OR): You can chain multiple conditions using AND/OR. In this example, the criteria are: ((1 AND 2) OR 3) as shown in the image. This means, a resource is compliant if it has both the first and second tag conditions OR it has the third condition.
    • Click the add icon + to add another tag condition. Click the delete icon to delete a condition.
    • Edit Expression: Fine-tune or manually edit the logical expression combining conditions.
    • Click Save to create the Governance Profile.
  4. Click Next to proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Configure Details

  1. In the Configure Details page, enter the following details:
    • Period: The duration over which governance check is evaluated. Governance checks run on a monthly window so that resources marked non‑compliant in one month but fixed in the next do not conflict with each other. Only Monthly is supported for governance checks.
    • Unit: Choose how you want to measure non‑compliant resources for this check. Count tracks the number of untagged resources, while Percentage tracks the percentage of total resources that are untagged.
    • Non-compliance Threshold: The threshold value at which a governance check sends alerts when the count or percentage of untagged (non-compliant) resources exceeds the configured value. Enter your desired value.
  2. Click Next to proceed to step 3. To go back to the previous page, click Back.

Step 3: Notification Settings

  1. In the Notification Settings page, configure the following details:
    • Notify via: Choose the mode through which you'd like to get notified. If you select Users, the application will send notifications to the users whose email IDs are mapped. If you select Site24x7, the application will send notifications via the User Alert Groups.
    • IT Automation Templates: Automate incident remediation using IT Automation. This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the applicable template.
    • Third-party Services: You can choose to receive notifications via third-party services of your choice. This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the required third-party services.
    • Users/User Group/User Alert Group: Choose contacts from the drop-down list. Governance check alert notifications are triggered only once and can only be sent to email contacts with Administrator and User roles in CloudSpend.
  2. Click Submit.

You can view the newly configured governance check by navigating to Governance > Business Units.

Reports

Governance Reports

To configure governance checks for your Reports:

  1. Go to the CloudSpend console.
  2. In the left navigation pane, choose Checks , and then select Governance > Reports.
  3. Click Configure Checks and complete the following steps:
    1. Step 1: Choose Profile
    2. Step 2: Configure Details
    3. Step 3: Notification Settings

Step 1: Choose Profile

  1. In the Choose profile page, enter the Display Name for the new governance check.
  2. Governance Profile: Select the applicable check. Governance Profiles are reusable across multiple checks. If you wish to create a new profile, click Add to open the Add Governance Profile dialog box. To edit a profile, click Edit . After you make the necessary changes, click Save.
  3. In the Add Governance Profile dialog box, enter the following details:
    • Display Name: Enter a display name for the new governance check.
    • Resource Type: Choose Reports.
    • Reports: Select the applicable reports.
    • Click Next.
    • In the Configure Tag Validation section, specify the tag values and logical conditions that determine compliance. Each row represents a tag condition.
    • Logical Operators (AND/OR): You can chain multiple conditions using AND/OR. In this example, the criteria are: ((1 AND 2) OR 3) as shown in the image. This means, a resource is compliant if it has both the first and second tag conditions OR it has the third condition.
    • Click the add icon + to add another tag condition. Click the delete icon to delete a condition.
    • Edit Expression: Fine-tune or manually edit the logical expression combining conditions.
    • Click Save to create the Governance Profile.
  4. Click Next to proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Configure Details

  1. In the Configure Details page, enter the following details:
    • Period: The duration over which governance check is evaluated. Governance checks run on a monthly window so that resources marked non‑compliant in one month but fixed in the next do not conflict with each other. Only Monthly is supported for governance checks.
    • Unit: Choose how you want to measure non‑compliant resources for this check. Count tracks the number of untagged resources, while Percentage tracks the percentage of total resources that are untagged.
    • Non-compliance Threshold: The threshold value at which a governance check sends alerts when the count or percentage of untagged (non-compliant) resources exceeds the configured value. Enter your desired value.
  2. Click Next to proceed to step 3. To go back to the previous page, click Back.

Step 3: Notification Settings

  1. In the Notification Settings page, configure the following details:
    • Notify via: Choose the mode through which you'd like to get notified. If you select Users , the application will send notifications to the users whose email IDs are mapped. If you select Site24x7, the application will send notifications via the User Alert Groups.
    • IT Automation Templates: Automate incident remediation using IT Automation . This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the applicable template.
    • Third-party Services: You can choose to receive notifications via third-party services of your choice. This field is displayed only if you choose Site24x7 in the Notify via field. Select the required third-party services.
    • Users/User Group/User Alert Group: Choose contacts from the drop-down list. Governance check alert notifications are triggered only once and can only be sent to email contacts with Administrator and User roles in CloudSpend.
  2. Click Submit.

You can view the newly configured governance check by navigating to Governance > Reports.

Governance dashboard

This page gives you a quick view of all governance checks configured in your CloudSpend account. You can view the configured checks, what their status is, and when they were last checked. Click Configure Check to create a new governance check. To schedule report for governance checks on a recurring basis, click Schedule Report. To share the dashboard data with other users, click Share.

Governance

Summary

The summary at the top shows three values.

This helps you understand the overall compliance state at a glance.

List of Governance Checks

Each row represents a single governance check. The table includes these fields.

Governance Details page

This page shows the status of a specific governance check that you created in CloudSpend. It summarizes how the check behaved during the selected period, how many violations occurred, and when alerts were triggered.

Governance Details

Overview

The Overview section gives a quick summary of how the governance check is configured and how it performed. You can view the following details:

You also see actions like Edit, Delete, Share, and Schedule Report, which help you manage and distribute the results.

Recent Alerts

This section lists the most recent compliance alerts sent for this check.

It shows the time the alert was sent, the notification channel, the evaluation period, the number of non-compliant resources found, the configured compliance value, and the deviation count. The deviation helps you quickly see how far the environment moved away from the configured value.

History

This section shows how the check behaved over previous periods. For each period, you see the number of non-compliant resources detected, the configured compliance value, and the deviation count.

Each entry contains a link to the RCA page for deeper analysis. Clicking RCA takes you to the RCA.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) page

The RCA page gives you a detailed breakdown of how a specific governance check has performed. It highlights the extent of non compliance, the associated cost impact, and the list of affected resources. This helps you understand the scope of the issue and decide what needs to be corrected. 

RCA

Cost section

This section shows the cost impact of the governance check.

This area helps you understand how much of your spend is tied to non-compliant resources.

Resources section

This section shows the resource count impact.

This tells you how widespread the compliance issue is.

Non-Compliant Resources (Billed)

This table lists all non-compliant resources that contribute to your cloud bill. For each resource, you can see the resource name, account name, service, region, and cost.

This helps you pinpoint exactly which billed resources are failing the governance check and how much they cost. Click the desired resource from the Non-Compliant Resources (Billed) section to view the resource inventory details of that particular resource. You can view the resource trend, resource details, and tag associated with the resource in the Resource Inventory page.

Non-Compliant Resources (Unbilled)

This section works the same way as the billed list but focuses on resources that do not currently generate cost. These may include newly created resources or items that are not yet billed because they fall under reservations, savings plans, or other applied discounts. Seeing them early helps you fix compliance issues before they affect reporting or future bills.

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