Most cloud cost advice starts at the wrong layer. It jumps straight into optimization tactics Reserved Instances, Spot capacity, aggressive rightsizing without first addressing the more fundamental problem: visibility.

Because without visibility, optimization becomes guesswork. And guesswork is expensive.

This guide takes a different approach. Five days. No third-party FinOps platforms. Just native tooling, deliberate structure, and a system engineers will actually use.

Day 1: Tagging Strategy The Foundation Everything Else Depends On

Every meaningful cost analysis begins with attribution. Without tags, cost data is a monolith.…