How Customers Pay Archera and the Role of GRI Premiums

Last updated: October 6, 2025

How Customers Pay Archera and the Role of GRI Premiums

At Archera, our goal is to help businesses manage and optimize their cloud commitments to save money. We do this by offering GRIs (Guaranteed Reserved Instances), which are designed to offload unused cloud commitments and reduce the financial burden of long-term cloud contracts.

1. Customer Payment to Archera

Customers pay Archera through - Monthly Premium Billing Model: This is a fixed cost for accessing Archera's platform, which includes tools for cloud cost optimization, usage insights, and reporting.

- Usage-Based Fees: Depending on the specific cloud services being monitored and optimized, customers may also pay based on their usage volume (e.g., number of cloud resources tracked or optimized).

  • Note: These fees are outlined in Archera's pricing plans and can vary depending on the level of service, the features enabled, and the scale of the customer’s cloud environment. **

2. Understanding GRIs (Guaranteed Reserved Instances)

GRIs are a key component of Archera’s cloud cost management offering, designed to address the long-term cloud commitments that many customers have made (e.g., Reserved Instances or Savings Plans with cloud providers like AWS and Azure). These cloud commitments often come with a long-term contract, where customers are locked into paying for a certain amount of resources (e.g., compute, storage) regardless of whether they use them.

Here's how GRIs function:

  • GRI as an Insurance Premium: Think of a GRI as a type of insurance premium. When a customer has cloud commitments they no longer need (perhaps because their usage has decreased or they are shifting workloads), Archera helps offload those commitments by taking on the associated risks. In return, Archera charges a premium or fee to assume the responsibility for those unused commitments.

  • Offloading Commitments: Essentially, Archera acts as a third party that helps businesses reduce or eliminate financial loss from cloud commitments that are no longer in use. This enables businesses to avoid paying for resources they’re not using, and Archera manages the resale or reallocation of those commitments to other customers or the cloud provider.

3. Savings with GRIs and Premiums:

The savings shown on the Archera platform reflect the net savings after GRI premiums are applied. This means that the savings customers see are already factoring in the cost of the premium that Archera charges for assuming the risk of unused cloud commitments.

  • Longer Commitment Terms = Greater Savings: The longer the term of the commitment the customer is offloading (i.e., the longer the customer’s savings plan), the greater the savings passed on to the customer. Archera can pass on larger savings because the longer-term commitment typically results in a better overall price for the cloud resources.

4. Why Archera Charges GRI Premiums

GRI premiums are essential for managing the risk associated with offloading unused cloud commitments. Here's why:

  • Risk Assumption: When Archera buys back unused cloud commitments or reallocates them to other customers, we’re taking on the financial risk that the customer might not fully use those resources. The GRI premium is essentially an insurance for Archera in case those resources cannot be fully utilized.

  • Saving the Customer Money: The GRI premiums allow Archera to provide flexible solutions for customers, helping them get out of long-term, underutilized cloud commitments without taking a significant financial hit. It’s a win-win for both Archera and the customer because it helps businesses keep their cloud costs low while Archera ensures a return for the service we provide.

Overview

This structure helps customers offload unnecessary cloud costs while Archera assumes responsibility for unused resources, passing savings back to customers. It’s a smart, cost-effective way for businesses to manage their cloud environments more efficiently.

  • What Customers Pay: Customers pay Archera via a Monthly Premium Billing Model usage-based fees (based on consumption).

  • GRI Premiums: GRIs function like insurance premiums, where Archera assumes the risk of unused cloud commitments and charges a fee for doing so.

  • Savings Calculation: The savings customers see on the Archera platform are net savings after GRI premiums. This means the savings displayed reflect the cost of the premium Archera charges to manage unused commitments.

  • Longer Commitments = Greater Savings: Customers who utilize longer-term commitments can receive greater savings on GRI premiums, as these commitments are more financially predictable.