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Introduction

Since 2023, cloud resources have been used in our centrally managed public cloud infrastructures. Since 2024, the costs for cloud resources have been passed on manually. This method is not scalable in the long term, which is why automated billing will be introduced in 2025 for pay-per-use applications such as cloud resources.

A detailed description of the processes for ordering, managing, and billing cloud resources can be found here: Manage Cloud Resources at ETH

The following lines address the two key stakeholders in this process:

  • the owner of the cloud resources, i.e., the person who orders an Azure subscription or a Google project
  • the Budgetverantwortliche (BV), who must approve a cost credit/budget for one year in SAP

Please note important information regarding costs, budget and settlement.

Information for the owner of cloud resources

Owners of cloud resources use an Azure subscription ‘SUBS-XXX-ABC’ or a Google project ‘ProjektXxxAbc’ to manage cloud resources. Until now, the costs for cloud resources have been charged manually, but from January 2025, an automated process was  introduced. For this purpose, a cost credit/budget will be created for the subscription/project in the IT Shop, which you will be able to manage in the future. The cost credit/budget will be extrapolated based on past costs incurred. Existing subscriptions/projects will initially be imported into the IT Shop by the IT Shop team. The owner does not need to do anything for this import. 

The ordering or modification of a subscription/project in the IT Shop is described here: MCR - Request and modify Cloud Resources through IT Shop


Information for Budgetverantwortliche (BV)

Budgetverantwortliche (BV) approve cost credits/budgets for the use of cloud resources. For the transition to automated billing, all existing subscriptions/projects will be imported by the IT Shop team. For this reason, the budget manager will be informed of the import by email and will receive an IT Shop request in the ETHIS portal in the days following this email. This request will be announced by a corresponding email:

Please follow the link, open ETHIS, and approve the request for the cost credit/budget for the automated billing of cloud resource costs.


List of the IT Shop-Anträge in ETHIS:


Example of a IT Shop-Antrag for Cloud resourcen:


With the approval of the cost credit/budget, cloud resources can now be automatically billed.

Important information regarding costs, budget, and settlement for Owner and Budgetverantwortliche (BV)

The IT Shop request defines the cost credit/budget for one year. The budget estimates the range of costs that will be incurred during the term. Important: it is not the cost credit/budget that is billed, but rather the actual costs incurred in the cloud each month. The approval of the cost credit/budget serves to inform the budget manager that costs may be incurred within the scope of the cost credit/budget. This means that the actual costs over the term may be below or above the approved amount. In the event that the cost credit/budget is exceeded, corresponding notifications are sent to the owners or explicitly set recipients.

Cloud resources incur ongoing costs. These costs are still settled if the approved budget is exceeded or has expired. Cloud resources will not be deleted without explicit request.

We strongly recommend increasing the budget when needed and renewing it after the budget period ends. This helps you control costs and stay within budget.

The owner of the subscription/project can manage the cost credit/budget at any time via the IT Shop (i.e. adjust the amount or cost center). Detailed instructions can be found here: MCR - Request and modify Cloud Resources through IT Shop