> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/features/coverage/purchasing-coverage.md). # Purchasing Coverage Learn how North measures coverage, and how to buy more of it through a policy or a one-time purchase. Everything here happens in the coverage simulation. Open it from the Commitments page. Click **Adjust Coverage**. ## How Coverage Is Measured Every percentage in the simulation is a share of your on-demand equivalent spend for one plan. On-demand equivalent is what your usage would cost at list price, with no commitment applied. This gives every figure on the page the same denominator. North sets a **recommended maximum** for each plan. This is the highest coverage that still adds savings. Above it, more coverage costs more than it returns. North calculates the recommended maximum from your own usage, over a window sized to that plan's own spend pattern rather than a fixed number of days. North recalculates the maximum every month. Your coverage target is set as a share of the recommended maximum. If North's recommendation changes, your target moves with it. ## Ways to Buy Coverage There are three ways to buy coverage. You can use any of them, and you can use all three. * **A coverage policy.** You set a target once. North generates recommendations every month and buys against that policy. * **A Flex purchase to cover a shortfall.** You buy the gap between what you already hold and your policy target, as a single purchase. * **A Flex purchase above your target.** You buy part of the spend you left outside your policy, up to the recommended maximum. The last two are one-time purchases. Neither changes your ongoing policy. If you prefer not to run a policy at all, you can keep buying Flex one purchase at a time. ## Metrics The simulation shows four metrics. Use them to compare one configuration against another before you commit to it. ESR and Savings/mo show a simulated figure beside your current figure, so you can read the change. | Metric | Meaning | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **ESR** | The single best way to judge your commitments' health. It is your blended discount across committed and on-demand spend. North calculates it after any Enterprise Discount Plan (EDP) or other negotiated pricing. If you have negotiated pricing with your cloud provider, ESR reflects your savings measured against that negotiated rate. | | **Savings/mo** | Combined Autobot and Flexbot savings per month, at this configuration. | | **Flex Score** | The flexibility of this configuration's term mix, from 0 to 10. A higher score is more flexible. | | **Time to Peak** | The number of months before coverage stops climbing. A configuration already at its peak reads "At peak". | ## Autobot and Flexbot Autobot and Flexbot are the two mechanisms North uses to cover your spend. Autobot buys commitments in your own account, and you own them. Flexbot is coverage North holds for you in its own accounts. The [Coverage](/docs/features/coverage.md) guide explains both in full, including how North manages the risk for each. Three drawers sit below the policy controls in the simulation view of the Commitments page. Each one covers a different band of your spend. | Drawer | Covers | Held by | Managed by | | ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ---------- | | **Autobot** | From the coverage you already own, up to the Auto share of your target | You | North | | **Flexbot** | From the Auto share of your target, up to your total coverage target | North | North | | **On Demand** | From your total coverage target, up to the recommended maximum | North | North | Spend above the recommended maximum stays uncovered. Covering it costs more than it saves. The **Auto / Flex** control divides your target between the first two. It sets which of the two holds the commitment. It does not change how much coverage you end up with, but it can change how quickly you get there: Autobot builds up gradually, while Flexbot can fill its share at once. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** Flex is available on Compute, Database and SageMaker Savings Plans only. {% endhint %} ## Coverage Profiles A coverage profile controls how Autobot builds its share. It does not change your target. Each profile sets three things: * **Base**, the share committed in the first month. * **Ladder**, the share added month over month after the first. * **Term mix**, the split between one-year and three-year commitment terms. Profiles differ in pace and in how much they commit in the first month. A slower profile commits less at the start and keeps more room to change course. A faster profile commits more at the start and reaches your target sooner. North maintains the set of profiles. You select the one you want. North also grades how steady each plan's spend is, and uses that grade to cap how fast the ladder may climb. Where spend is less predictable, North adds coverage more slowly, leaving you room to change course. The grade sets pace only. It does not lower the coverage North recommends for you. ## Buying Coverage Through a Policy A coverage policy applies to a service. Select the service at the top of the Commitments page before you set a policy for it. 1. On the Commitments page, click **Adjust Coverage**. 2. If you are looking to buy commitments for Reserved Instance plans, you can choose to exclude certain instance types so that North does not account for their usage while forecasting the commitment needs. See [Choosing Which Instances Count](/docs/features/coverage/coverage-plans.md#choosing-which-instances-count) for more details. 3. Choose a range to project over: 3m, 6m, 1y, 2y, or a custom range. 4. Use the Coverage Policy slider to set your coverage target. The track runs from 0% to 100% of your on-demand equivalent spend, and your plan's recommended maximum is indicated on it. 5. Use the Auto / Flex control to divide that target between Autobot and Flexbot. 6. Open the Autobot drawer and select a coverage profile. Click **Compare Profiles** to see the profiles against each other. 7. Review the projected ESR, Savings/mo, Flex Score, and Time to Peak. 8. Click **Update Policy**, then authorize the configuration. ### Authorizing a Policy When you click **Update Policy**, North shows an **Authorize coverage configuration** confirmation before it purchases anything. The confirmation states: * The chosen profile and your target coverage. * The details of what will be bought each month, including the commitment terms, rates, cost per month, and the expected savings per month. You can see the projected purchases for the rest of the ladder. Note that these are projections only - North re-evaluates every month against your actual usage, so only the first month's purchases are fixed at the time of authorization. * The Flex purchases that are part of the profile. By default, North will assess the Flex split of your policy each month and recommend additional purchases as needed. If you would rather that this be a one-time purchase, turn off the **Keep buying Flex as part of this policy** toggle. * Any required permission that is missing, and a **Set up permissions** link to grant it. {% hint style="info" %} Confirming a policy authorizes North to purchase commitments on your behalf. An automation fee applies to Autobot coverage. See the [pricing page](https://north.cloud/pricing) or your Master Services Agreement for details. {% endhint %} ### Permissions Autobot Needs Autobot purchases and manages commitments directly in your own AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure account. Before it can act on your behalf, you must grant it purchasing permissions. * **AWS.** Deploy the `NorthAutoPurchasingRole`. Its trust policy names a single role inside North's account, so it does not take an external ID. * **Google Cloud.** Grant three roles, each at the scope its commitment type works at: `compute.admin` on your organization, `bigquery.resourceAdmin` on the project you designate for reservations, and `consumerprocurement.orderAdmin` on your billing account. The third one is what allows Autobot to buy Flexible CUDs. * **Azure.** Grant the `Reservation Purchaser` and `Savings plan Purchaser` roles, at subscription scope. North checks these permissions when you enable Autobot on a profile. North also requests them during onboarding for new accounts. A missing purchasing permission does not affect your account's overall verification status. Flex purchases do not need these permissions. North holds those commitments in its own accounts. ### What Happens Each Month Once your policy is active, North generates new recommendations every month, based on how your usage has changed. What happens next depends on which mechanism holds the coverage. * **For your Flexbot share:** Every North customer is assigned a dedicated Customer Success Engineer (CSE). Your CSE monitors your order, keeps you updated on its status, and guides you through the next steps. As part of this process, you are invited to add North-managed Savings Pods to your environment. These pods distribute discounts directly into your account. * **For your Autobot share:** North purchases commitments directly into your own account. There is no separate invite step. The permissions you granted when you confirmed your policy are what let North purchase on your behalf. Coverage ladders up gradually, following the profile you chose, until it reaches peak coverage. ### Updating an Existing Policy On the Commitments page, click **Adjust Coverage** to open the simulation again. Change your coverage target, your Auto / Flex split, or your coverage profile. Click **Update Policy** and authorize the new configuration. North uses the new policy for its next set of recommendations. ## Buying Flex to Cover a Shortfall Use this when the Flex share of your coverage target sits above the Flex North already holds for you. Autobot fills its own share of that target. The Flexbot drawer presents what is left for Flex as a single purchase for you to make. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** If you have not set a coverage policy, North's recommended maximum stands in as your target. {% endhint %} 1. On the Commitments page, click **Adjust Coverage**. 2. Open the **Flexbot** drawer. 3. Review the purchase table. It shows the commitment, the term, the rate, the cost per month, and the savings. Below it, North states the coverage the purchase takes you to. 4. Lower the rate if you want to buy less. You cannot set it above North's recommendation. 5. Click **One-Time Purchase**. A one-time purchase does not change your ongoing policy, and it needs no purchasing permissions. To change your ongoing coverage, use the Coverage Policy and Auto / Flex controls above the drawer. North holds every Flex commitment in its own accounts. After you buy, your Customer Success Engineer contacts you to attach North's Savings Pods to your account. The discount reaches you once those pods are in place. ### How the Controls Above Change This Offer Your Coverage Policy target sets the top of the band Flexbot can fill. The Auto / Flex control sets how much of that band belongs to Flex rather than to Autobot. Raise your target, or move the split toward Flex, and the offer grows. Move it toward Auto and it shrinks. ### When There Is Nothing to Buy The drawer states the reason and shows the two figures that produce it. There are three reasons: * North already holds more Flex on this plan than your policy allocates to Flex. * Your own commitments and Autobot's purchases already reach your target. * Purchases already in progress account for the remaining room. ### Why a Shortfall Appears A shortfall is typically a timing gap. Your coverage policy re-evaluates every month, and North works Flex recommendations through with you. Both take time. Use this drawer when you would rather act now than wait for either. A shortfall in this drawer has several causes: * Sustained spend growth lifted your coverage target. * A Flex recommendation was canceled. * A recommendation is still with your Customer Success Engineer. * You raised your coverage target or your Flex share. * Commitments expired. * A plan came into scope. * The account has no coverage policy. An account with no coverage policy is the one exception. Nothing is running to close that gap until you set a policy. If you cancel a Flex recommendation, it returns while the condition that produced it holds. A cancellation applies to that request only. ## Buying Coverage Above Your Target Use this to cover spend you deliberately left outside your policy. The On Demand drawer offers the band from your coverage target up to the recommended maximum. The drawer opens with the share of spend above your target, and the recommended maximum for the plan. It then gives you the savings available on the part still worth covering. The rest sits past the point where the savings curve peaks. 1. On the Commitments page, click **Adjust Coverage**. 2. Open the **On Demand** drawer. 3. Review the purchase table, and lower the rate if you want to buy less. 4. Click **One-Time Purchase**. This purchase works the same way as a Flex shortfall purchase. North holds the commitment, and your Customer Success Engineer handles fulfillment. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:** This drawer sells the band between your target and the recommended maximum, so lowering your target makes the offer larger and raising it makes the offer smaller. If your target already sits at the recommended maximum, there is nothing here to buy, and the drawer says so. {% endhint %} ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How Do I Turn Off Autobot? You can either temporarily turn off Autobot or opt out of it completely. * To temporarily turn off Autobot but leave your selected profile intact: In the Autobot drawer, set the **Autobot off** toggle. * To turn off the Autobot profile completely: In the coverage profile list, select the **Off** profile, then click Update Policy and confirm. This stops new purchases. Commitments you already hold run to the end of their terms. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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