IFO4
Loading...The ratio of total cost in a period to the count of denominating units consumed or produced in that period, reduced to a single figure that supports trend and comparison analysis. Cost per unit is the simplest unit-economic expression and the federation default reporting form for any service whose volume is meaningfully measurable. The federation requires the unit definition, cost basis, and time window to be disclosed alongside every cost-per-unit figure under UFMS-001:2.4. Unbounded cost-per-unit claims are inadmissible federation evidence.
A standard term of nineteenth century industrial cost accounting; the cloud sense extends the production output frame to compute and request volumes.
Federation members publish cost-per-unit for each tier-1 service quarterly with full denominator definition. Trend reporting is required across at least four quarters. Step changes in cost-per-unit are footnoted with the underlying driver under MEV-Annex:3.2.
@misc{ifo4_glossary_cost_per_unit,
title = {{Cost Per Unit}},
author = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{cost-per-unit}}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/cost-per-unit},
note = {Category: FinOps; key: CostPerUnit}
}Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.