Operating Cost from an architectural perspective encompasses the ongoing expenditures required to run, maintain, support, and manage technology platforms, applications, and services throughout their lifecycle, providing a comprehensive view of the financial resources consumed by architectural components as they deliver business capabilities.

For enterprise architects, Operating Cost analysis provides critical insights that influence architectural decisions, cloud migration strategies, application rationalization, and technology standardization initiatives. Comprehensive cost models typically address multiple dimensions: infrastructure costs for computing, storage, and networking resources; software costs including licensing, subscription, and maintenance fees; personnel costs covering both dedicated IT staff and business operations; service costs for managed services, cloud providers, and external support; and indirect costs arising from technical debt, complexity, and inefficiency. Technical leaders should establish structured cost allocation models that attribute expenses to specific business capabilities, providing transparency into how architectural decisions affect operational economics across the enterprise. The analysis approach must address several challenges including shared cost allocation among multiple business units, accounting for variable consumption patterns, and balancing point-in-time cost optimization against long-term flexibility needs. Integration with financial management systems is essential, ensuring architecture-driven cost projections align with budgeting processes and provide accurate forecasting for technology expenses. As architectural landscapes become more complex through hybrid environments, consumption-based services, and dynamic resource allocation, cost management becomes more challenging yet more critical, requiring sophisticated modeling tools and dedicated FinOps capabilities that continuously monitor, optimize, and forecast technology expenses. Leading organizations implement architectural economic frameworks that systematically evaluate operating cost implications during design decisions, explicitly considering total cost of ownership alongside functional requirements and performance needs. This economic perspective transforms architecture from a purely technical discipline into a financial management capability that optimizes investment allocation while maintaining appropriate balance between cost efficiency and business value delivery across the technology landscape.