# Cost Optimization Policies

Cost Optimization Policies help you uncover opportunities to reduce your cloud spend. These policies are built by OneLens based on in-depth research and industry standards, so the recommendations you receive are both reliable and actionable.

## How Policies Work

Each policy runs on the **resource metadata and/or performance** metrics pulled from your infrastructure. Policies are tailored to specific cloud services and come with predefined configurations. When your resources exceed those configured thresholds, OneLens automatically detects the issue and creates a policy violation ticket, flagging the opportunity and how you can act on it.

## How Often Policies Run

Depending on your OneLens subscription, policies run **daily or weekly**. This means you're consistently kept up to date with fresh savings opportunities as your environment changes.

## Configuring a Policy

You can customize policy settings to better fit your environment. Each policy has adjustable parameters based on the metrics OneLens collects. While OneLens provides sensible default values, you have full control to modify them.

To configure a policy:

1. Open the **Policy Dashboard** from the left sidebar.
2. Click on the policy name in the table to view its details.
3. Adjust the configuration settings as needed.

### Disabling a Policy

If a specific policy is not relevant to your environment or you're not ready to act on its suggestions, you can mute it:

* Use the **toggle switch** located beside the policy name in the **Policy Dashboard** to mute or unmute it.

<figure><img src="/files/gA2pTLk5gcMjzzaU3FZK" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Viewing Policy Details

OneLens offers around **88 cost optimization policies** spanning **16 different cloud services**. To help you quickly find the policy you're looking for, the **Policy Dashboard** includes filters that let you narrow down results.

<figure><img src="/files/WuveuJbvaJgvO3Yr3Rlk" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% tabs fullWidth="false" %}
{% tab title="1. Service" %}
Narrow down policies based on the specific AWS service they apply to&#x20;

* e.g., EC2, RDS, S3
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="2. Policy Status" %}
Show the policies active status:

* *Enabled*
* *Disabled*
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="3. Change Type" %}
Filter based on the nature of the required change:

* ***Application Changes***
* ***Configuration Changes***
* ***Decommissioning***
* ***Scheduling***.
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="4. Saving Category" %}
Group policies by their cost saving category:

* ***Delete Obsolete Data***
* ***Graviton***
* ***Migrate to GP3***
* ***Modernization***
* ***Resource Optimization***
* ***Rightsizing***
* ***Shift to AMD***
* ***Storage Tier Transitions***
* ***Unused Resource***
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="5. Risk" %}
Choose policies based on their implementation risk:

* ***Low***
* ***High***
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="6. Effort" %}
Filter by how much effort is needed to implement:

* ***Easy***
* ***Medium***
* ***Hard***
  {% endtab %}
  {% endtabs %}

## How to View a Policy

To explore any policy in depth:

1. Go to the **Policy Dashboard** from the sidebar.
2. Click on a policy name to open its detail view.
3. There are also filters present.
4. You’ll see:
   * **Policy Description**: What the policy monitors.
   * **Why It Matters**: The significance of the policy in terms of cost or risk.
   * **Recommendations**: Suggested actions to remediate the violation.

<figure><img src="/files/ZogjePI0yCY8QDcJZGXn" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Policy Config

Below the main description, you’ll find the configuration section, which includes:

* **Setting Name**: The parameter being evaluated.
* **Description**: Explanation of what the setting controls.
* **Value**: The standard value set by OneLens.

<figure><img src="/files/QGiblI0djkGIcokUxQTC" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="success" %}
You can adjust the value of these settings as per your organization’s needs.
{% endhint %}

### Policy Tags

Each policy includes tags to help you organize and filter:

* **Change Type**
* **Cost Saving Category**
* **Risk Level**
* **Effort Required**

<figure><img src="/files/gubLgc8kR5SGaRW08804" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="success" %}
You’ll find these tags useful across the OneLens interface for sorting and prioritizing policies quickly.
{% endhint %}

## Viewing Policy Violations

When a policy detects a violation, OneLens automatically creates a ticket with details on the affected resource and potential savings. You can view all active and historical violations in the **Policy Violation Dashboard**.

To dive deeper into how violations are tracked, [learn more about Policy Violations](/optimize-cost-savings-and-recommendations/policy-violations.md).


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