The VMware IT Business Management Suite provides out-of-the-box (OOTB) cost models. A cost model is a multitiered set of allocation rules that map the financial relationships from the general ledger up to the business units within the organization. This relationship reveals which entities drive the cost of other entities.

The cost browser provides a simple way for users (typically the IT Finance Administrator) to create and modify a cost model that defines the cost relationships in their business structure. Cost models can be modified periodically by adding or deleting elements and changing dependencies to reflect the current contributory relationships between cost object types.

The OOTB cost model does not necessarily reflect all financial aspects of a fully mature IT organization. Rather, it provides immediate value to typical IT organizations, and introduces design guidance for object types and common allocation rules that are used to allocate cost end-to-end from the general ledger to the business units. If needed, it can be enhanced to reflect any organization cost structure and data sources.