SECTION 1. UNDERSTANDING THE NEW INTEGRATION
Q. What are the Guaranteed Commitments (GRIs/GSPs), and how do they work?
Guaranteed Commitments are standard Reserved Instances or Savings Plans with a built-in money-back guarantee. Our partner platform, Archera, purchases the RI or SP within the client’s organization—so it's fully native infrastructure—and wraps it with financial protection. After the minimum lock-in period (30 days or 1 year), if the commitment goes unused and net savings become negative, Archera issues a cash refund to bring the customer's net savings back to zero. As an MSP on Ripple, you offer this to your clients through the WavePRO portal, with billing and reconciliation handled all in one place.
Q. Is this solution designed for customers who are uncertain about a 1- or 3-year commitment term?
Yes—that is precisely the ideal use case. Guaranteed Commitments allow customers to access meaningful cloud discounts on flexible terms as short as 30 days. Customers who want to reduce monthly costs but are not ready to lock into a long-term commitment are the strongest fit for this new solution.
Q. Can existing native RIs or SPs be migrated to Guaranteed Commitments?
No. The Guaranteed Commitments service only covers commitments purchased and managed through this service. Existing commitments that are self-managed by your customer cannot be migrated or retroactively covered.
SECTION 2: BILLING, PREMIUMS, & REVENUE SHARE
Q. How are Risk Premiums calculated, and does the customer still pay if their usage drops?
The Risk premiums are calculated based solely on realized monthly savings (daily total). If a customer's utilization drops and no savings are generated in a given month, no premium is charged. After the minimum lock-in period, if savings turn negative, rebates are issued to bring the customer's savings back to zero. In short, the premium is always proportional to the value being delivered — and once past the lock-in period, customers are protected from any month where the commitment produces losses.
※ Daily savings = On-demand amount × Coverage rate − Native commitment cost (including amortization)
Q. Is “No Upfront” the only supported payment option, or can customers choose Partial Upfront?
By default, Guaranteed Commitments are structured on a No Upfront basis. By creating a Custom Plan, Partial Upfront payment can be selected for certain eligible services. Speak with your Alphaus account team to confirm which services support Partial Upfront and how to configure it.
SECTION 3: ONBOARDING & ACCOUNT SETUP
Q. What is the MSP’s role in the onboarding and account setup process?
The MSP is responsible for payer account onboarding—specifically, connecting the customer’s vendor account to the partner platform via Ripple. If the customer already has an existing payer account within their cloud provider’s organizational structure, the existing payer account can be used.
Q. Does Archera purchase the RI/SP through the customer’s account, or does it handle this separately?
RI / SP are purchased directly through the customer's account. This means the commitment is fully native and appears in the customer’s own cloud vendor console.
Q. Can Guaranteed Commitments be purchased in advance for planned infrastructure?
No. The recommendation engine is based on historical usage data from the CUR. It cannot generate recommendations for instances or workloads that have not yet been deployed and have no usage history.
SECTION 4: CUSTOMER CHURN & COMMITMENT PORTABILITY
Q. What happens to a Guaranteed Commitment if a customer leaves MSP mid-term?
Guaranteed Commitment plans can be maintained according to the customer’s preferences. This is handled as a case-by-case transition, and our Alphaus team will coordinate the process.
Q. After a customer transitions away, who receives the ongoing rebates?
If the customer migrates and maintains the Guaranteed Commitments, refunds will continue to be paid. However, as this migration process will be handled on a case-by-case basis, the Alphaus team will coordinate the process.
Q.What happens to the underlying RI or SP if the Guaranteed Commitment Plan is terminated after the customer leaves the MSP?
If a customer terminates the Guaranteed Commitment Plan after leaving the MSP, the RI or SP will continue for the remainder of its contract term. After termination of the Guaranteed Commitment, no risk premium will be charged and no refunds will apply. It will be treated as a standard native commitment
Q. Can a Guaranteed Commitment be partially taken over or transferred to a different Payer account?
Partial takeovers are not currently supported. Full account transfers, however, are possible under specific conditions:
✅ EC2 GRIs can be transferred when the AWS RI Marketplace is enabled and the AWS Tax Profile is completed.
✅ Non-EC2 GRIs and GSPs can be transferred when the commitments reside in container sub-accounts within the AWS Organization and the platform has the required AWS Organizations permissions.
Note: Transfers between Payer Accounts are supported on AWS only. Azure and Google Cloud commitments cannot be transferred between accounts. All such transfers are handled on a case-by-case basis—please contact the Alphaus team to initiate a consultation.
Q. How long does it take from onboarding to receiving Guaranteed Commitment purchase plan recommendations?
Recommendations are generated based on the Cost and Usage Report (CUR). The earliest recommendations can appear the day after infrastructure is launched. The auto-generated base plans use a 4–5 day look back period, so it may take up to approximately 4–5 days for new infrastructure usage to be fully reflected.
Q. What is a best practice when designing Guaranteed Commitment proposals for customers?
When proposing as an MSP (Managed Service Provider), it is recommended to base proposals on the customer's actual usage data rather than planned or projected usage estimates whenever possible. If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to consult with the Alphaus team.
SECTION 5: RIPPLE’S ROLE IN THE WORKFLOW
Q. What happens if a customer already has existing native RIs or SPs when they start using Guaranteed Commitments?
Guaranteed Commitments ingests data directly from the CUR and reflects commitment application exactly according to the cloud vendor's native prioritization logic. How existing commitments are applied alongside new Guaranteed Commitments follows standard cloud vendor ordering rules. If a customer has a complex mix of native and Guaranteed Commitments, consult the Alphaus team for a tailored assessment before onboarding.
Ready to take your commitment management to the next level?
For additional questions or to explore how Guaranteed Commitment fit your client portfolio, reach out to our Alphaus Sales Team →