Savings Recommendations

Use this article to understand how savings recommendations help teams capture, prioritize, and track optimization opportunities from identified savings to realized impact.

Overview

A savings recommendation is a structured optimization opportunity in Yarken.

It may come from a cloud provider, an internal review, a vendor or licensing assessment, an infrastructure review, or another optimization workflow. Each recommendation records enough context for teams to understand the opportunity, decide whether to act, and measure the financial result.

Recommendations help teams manage optimization as an operating process instead of a one-time analysis. They connect the work of identifying savings opportunities with the follow-through needed to realize and report those savings.

How savings recommendations fit the user journey

Recommendations appear in several places across Yarken.

Area	Where to find it	Use it to
Home dashboard	Home	Review high-level Potential Savings and Realized Savings cards where configured.
Recommendations workspace	Admin > Recommendations	Manage recommendation records, review details, create manual recommendations, upload files, and update status.
Recommendations Overview	Reports > Cost Transparency > Recommendations Overview	Review savings trends by month, asset type, and source.
Recommendations Data	Analytics > Recommendations	Build custom analysis using recommendation fields, savings measures, status, source, and timeline.
Advanced Integrations	Admin > Pipelines > Connections and Admin > Pipelines > Pipelines	Configure provider ingestion and monitor recommendation pipelines.

This flow lets operational teams manage recommendation records while finance and leadership teams monitor savings outcomes.

Recommendation lifecycle

A recommendation typically moves through this lifecycle:

A recommendation is created manually, uploaded, or imported through an integration.
The recommendation is reviewed to understand the opportunity, affected resource, and expected savings.
The recommendation is prioritized using value, complexity, category, source, and business context.
The team decides whether to take action, defer, or dismiss the recommendation.
If action is taken, the recommendation is tracked while implementation is in progress.
When the optimization has been completed, the recommendation is marked completed and realized savings can be recorded.
Savings values appear in reporting and dashboards where the data is available.

This lifecycle helps teams move from opportunity identification to measurable savings outcomes.

Recommendation statuses

Recommendation status shows where the opportunity is in the workflow.

Status	Meaning
New	The recommendation has been identified but has not yet been reviewed or actioned.
In Progress	The recommendation is being reviewed, validated, or implemented.
Completed	The recommendation has been implemented or otherwise completed.
Dismissed	The recommendation is not being pursued.

Status values help teams separate active optimization work from completed or dismissed opportunities.

Potential savings and realized savings

Recommendations separate expected opportunity from confirmed value.

Savings field	What it means
Potential Savings	Estimated savings available if the recommendation is implemented.
Realized Savings	Savings achieved after the recommendation has been implemented or confirmed.

Use potential savings to understand the size of the optimization pipeline. Use realized savings to measure delivered impact.

Provider-sourced recommendations may include estimated savings from the provider. Actual savings may differ depending on when and how the recommendation is implemented.

Value and complexity

Value and complexity help teams prioritize recommendations.

Field	Use it to understand
Value	The relative business or financial benefit of acting on the recommendation.
Complexity	The relative effort, risk, or operational difficulty of implementing the recommendation.

A high-value, low-complexity recommendation is often a strong early candidate for action. A high-value, high-complexity recommendation may need technical review, business approval, or a longer implementation plan.