Cloud Waste Detection and Cleanup Operating System

Cloud waste is not one big problem. It is thousands of small problems that accumulate.

This playbook installs a repeatable weekly cleanup motion that makes savings persistent instead of one-time.

What you will install

1. Weekly waste sweep checklist

2. Triage and owner assignment rules

3. Safe change and deletion workflow

4. Evidence tracking and savings reporting

5. Monthly root cause review to prevent repeats

Beginner-safe definitions

Idle resource: running but doing little or nothing.

Orphaned resource: no longer attached to an active system (unused disk, old snapshot).

Shutdown candidate: a resource that has no owner or no use evidence.

Evidence: a simple proof that a resource is needed (metrics, logs, last access).

Weekly sweep checklist (minimum viable)

Look for:

• idle compute instances
• unused volumes and disks
• orphaned snapshots
• unattached IP addresses
• old dev environments left running
• unused load balancers and gateways
• resources missing required tags

Start with the biggest cost categories, not everything.

Owner assignment rules

Rules:

• every item must map to an owner_team
• if unowned, platform team triages and assigns within 7 days
• if still unowned after 14 days, it becomes a shutdown candidate
• “shared services” must have a named platform owner

Safe cleanup workflow

Beginner-safe workflow:

1. identify resource and estimated monthly cost
2. identify owner team
3. confirm unused using metrics, logs, or last access
4. snapshot or back up if needed
5. delete or downsize
6. monitor for 24 to 72 hours
7. record outcome and savings

If you do not have a rollback plan, do not delete.

Monthly root cause review

Monthly (30 minutes):

• biggest waste categories
• repeat patterns and repeat teams
• prevention controls to implement
• actions and owners

You are not trying to blame people. You are trying to install controls so waste does not recur.

Templates

A) Weekly waste sweep tracker (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Weekly Cloud Waste Sweep Tracker

Week:
Item type:
Resource ID:
Estimated monthly cost:
Owner team:
Action (delete / downsize / keep):
Evidence link:
Status:
Notes:

B) Safe deletion checklist (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Safe Deletion Checklist

1) Owner identified and acknowledges
2) Evidence of non-use confirmed (metrics/logs/last access)
3) Backup or snapshot completed if required
4) Change window decided
5) Rollback plan documented
6) Deletion or downsizing executed
7) Post-change monitoring completed
8) Savings recorded

C) Monthly root cause review agenda (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Monthly Cloud Waste Root Cause Review (30 minutes)

1) Largest waste categories this month
2) Repeat patterns (untagged resources, dev environments, orphaned storage)
3) Prevention controls to implement (tag enforcement, TTL policies, automation)
4) Actions, owners, deadlines

Common failure modes

• “cleanup day” once per year instead of weekly cadence
• no owner assignment so everything stalls
• deleting without rollback plan
• focusing on small items while ignoring big drivers
• no prevention work so waste returns

Make it boring. Make it weekly. Make it owned.