Usage Costs Overview
Starting with Angelfish v2.60, the Usage Costs reports were replaced by the User Analysis reports.
This article applies to v2.57 and earlier.All of your organization's websites and web-based applications have a cost:
- monthly & annual licensing fees
- security
- audits
- upgrades
- training & consulting
- hardware
- overhead
The Usage Costs Reports lets you apply these costs to the usage of your website | web application, so you can determine if the usage is worth the investment.
Usage Costs Reports are not enabled by default - they are enabled by an Angelfish Admin in the Usage Costs tab of each Profile's config.
Once enabled, there are 3 requirements for the Usage Costs Reports:
- A Username List
- Cost Values
- Usernames (shown in the Traffic - Visit Details - Usernames report)
When all 3 requirements are met, the Usage Costs Reports show data.
Usage Costs Terms
Active Usernames
The number of Usernames with one or more Visits during the selected date range. A Username must appear on the uploaded Usernames List to be considered an Active Username.
Low Activity Usernames
The number of Active Usernames with fewer Visits than the number specified in the Low Activity # setting in the Cost Values.
Inactive Usernames
The number of Usernames that appear on the uploaded Usernames List with zero Visits during the selected date range.
Unknown Usernames
The number of Usernames with one or more Visits during the selected date range that do not appear on the uploaded Usernames List.
Username List
A single-column List that contains all the Usernames you expect to see in the Usernames report. Usernames in the Username List are considered "Known Usernames."
Angelfish displays Active | Inactive | Unknown | Low Activity Usernames by comparing the Usernames observed in the reports to the Username List
You can schedule the Username List to update itself automatically, in the Lists Object.
Cost Values
These establish a baseline of Monthly and Annual costs and are used to calculate cost data in the reports.
- Total Annual Cost
- Annual Low Activity #
- Monthly Cost Per Username
- Monthly Low Activity #
Default Cost Values are entered in the Usage Costs tab of each Profile's config, and are shown in the Cost Values widget in each report.
In each report, you can enter different Cost Values and recalculate Metrics.
Ways to Use the Usage Costs Reports
There are two primary use cases for the Usage Costs reports:
- identify opportunities for training
- identify ways to reduce costs
Many organizations only use a fraction of the annual licensing seats they purchase. The Usage Costs Reports provide an exact number of the licensing seats being used.
A high number of Inactive & Low Activity Usernames can represent a sizeable Annual | Monthly cost. Both groups are candidates for training or cost reduction.
Unknown Usernames might actually be valid Usernames - make sure your Username List is current.