Pre-Design Stage Cost Estimation for Cloud Services

Cloud computing is being increasingly employed in the development of systems. For such systems, rapid cost estimation is required to start new business. This paper proposes a “Pay-Per-Use” billing model, and providers offer various strategic pricing options. There are many cost structures, and hence, users need to consider many pricing options when estimating system costs. Although companies often want to estimate the cost of their systems, it is difficult to obtain a comprehensive estimate that considers all components. Previously, researchers have implemented simulation-based and analytical approaches to solve this problem. In this study, we develop a cost-estimation method that employs directed acyclic graph (DAG)-based representation and matrix operations. Our method emphasizes simplicity through the use of a systematic procedure that can estimate the costs of new services in the pre-design stage. ©2022 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.