For vCloud environments, resource metering is essential to accurately measure consumer usage and shape consumer behavior through chargeback policies. VMware vCenter Chargeback Manager provides the metering capability to enable cost transparency and accountability in vCloud environments.

When running a private vCloud, enterprises do not necessarily have the same cost pressures as a public vCloud service provider. Required chargeback procedures or policies might not exist. An alternative to chargeback is showback, which attempts to raise awareness of consumption usage and cost by showing the consumer what the services would cost without involving formal accounting procedures to bill the usage back to the consumer’s department.

Chargeback provides cost transparency and accountability to align consumer behavior with the actual cost of the consumed resources. Without showback or chargeback, consumers are not aware of the actual cost of the resources they consume, and thus have little incentive to change their consumption patterns. vCloud computing resources can be easily spun up, and with the exception of deployment policies that dictate resource leases, there are no disincentives or penalties to curb excessive use. Metering exposes heavy or demanding users who may monopolize vCloud resources.