# Underutilized VM Commitments Due to Architectural Drift

Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/underutilized-vm-commitments-due-to-architectural-drift

[Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) 

# Underutilized VM Commitments Due to Architectural Drift

## Explanation

VM-based Committed Use Discounts in GCP offer cost savings for predictable workloads, but they are rigid: they apply only to specified VM types, quantities, and regions. When organizations evolve their architecture - such as moving to GKE (Kubernetes), Cloud Run, or autoscaling - usage patterns often shift away from the original commitments. Because GCP lacks flexible reallocation options like AWS Convertible RIs or Savings Plans, underutilized commitments lead to sustained, silent waste. This is especially common when workload changes go uncoordinated with finance or centralized planning.

## Relevant Billing Model

CUDs are billed based on committed resource quantities (e.g., vCPUs, memory) for specific VM families and regions, regardless of actual usage. If consumption falls below the commitment level, the unused portion is still billed, generating cost with no value returned.

## Detection

- Review actual usage against committed VM types and regions across a representative time period

- Identify consistent underutilization of CUDs based on usage-to-commit ratio

- Confirm whether architectural shifts (e.g., to GKE, Cloud Run, or autoscaling groups) have occurred

- Check for commitments applied to workloads that have been decommissioned or scaled down

- Evaluate whether commitments are isolated to specific projects, regions, or teams without visibility across the org

## Remediation

- Consolidate workloads onto committed VM types where feasible

- Avoid renewing commitments for workloads that are scaling down or migrating

- Use Resource-based CUDs when architectural flexibility is needed

- Implement cross-functional governance for forecasting and commitment approvals

- Align future commitments with current and expected usage patterns, not historical ones

## Relevant Documentation

[Submit Feedback](https://hub.pointfive.co/inefficiencies/underutilized-vm-commitments-due-to-architectural-drift)

## At a glance

Reference

CER-0089

Cloud provider

GCP

Service

GCP Compute Engine

Category

[Compute](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/compute)

Inefficiency type

Underutilized Commitment

## Contributed by

- Diana Lezcano 

### Diana Lezcano

Strategic Advisor @ Ardent Cloud Strategy

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-lezcano/)

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Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.