DevOps Backlog Cost Calculator

Estimate the annual cost of your DevOps backlog and potential savings with automation. Based on enterprise platform and FinOps experience.

Deployments, infra requests, troubleshooting, config changes

Time from request to resolution

Salary + benefits + overhead

% of backlog addressable by automation

Estimated backlog cost

Annual hours spent on backlog
1,800 hrs
150 hrs/month
Annual cost of backlog
$180,000
$15,000/month

Potential savings with automation

Hours saved annually
720 hrs
40% of 1,800 hrs
Cost savings annually
$72,000
40% of $180,000

DevOps automation platforms can reduce manual ticket load by handling deployments, config changes, and troubleshooting with AI-driven execution.

How it works

  • Tickets per month: Deployments, infrastructure requests, troubleshooting, config changes, and other manual DevOps work.
  • Hours per ticket: Average time from request to resolution (includes context switching, waiting, and handoffs).
  • Cost per hour: Fully loaded cost (salary + benefits + overhead) for your DevOps/platform engineering team.
  • Automation potential: Percentage of backlog that could be automated with AI-driven DevOps platforms (e.g. deployments, config, troubleshooting).

What automation addresses

Deployments

Kubernetes, serverless, CI/CD pipeline execution

Infrastructure

Cloud services, VPCs, databases, load balancers

Troubleshooting

Incident response, log analysis, observability

Compliance

Security patching, access control, audit reporting

Cost optimization

Rightsizing, RI/SP recommendations, budget controls

Self-service

Developer provisioning, ephemeral environments

Discuss your DevOps challenges

Let's talk about backlog, ops cost, and how I'd approach your accounts.