How to generate detailed usage reports in Cloudshare for ROI measurement

If you’re paying for Cloudshare, you want to know what you’re actually getting out of it. Maybe you need ammo for your next budget meeting, or you’re just tired of guessing where your cloud dollars are going. This guide is for folks who need clear, actionable usage reports from Cloudshare—no fluff, no sales talk, just what works (and what doesn’t).

Let’s get into how to pull detailed usage reports from Cloudshare, make sense of them, and use the insights to actually measure ROI—not just create pretty charts.

Why Usage Reporting Matters (and Where It Falls Short)

Before we dive into screens and menus, let’s be honest: usage reports are only as good as the data they give you, and it’s easy to get lost in noise. Cloudshare’s reporting tools are decent, but they won’t magically tell you if you’re getting value for money. They will, however, show you what’s being used, by whom, and for how long—if you know where to look.

Bottom line: Usage reports help you spot waste, justify spend, and see if those “unlimited environments” are really as unlimited as they sound.

Step 1: Know What You Want to Measure

Don’t just pull a report for the sake of it. Ask yourself:

  • Do you want to see who’s using what resources, and how often?
  • Are you tracking specific teams, projects, or environments?
  • Is your goal to find unused resources or justify renewals?

Pro tip: Write down your top 2-3 questions before you even log in. You’ll save yourself from sifting through endless CSVs later.

Step 2: Log in and Find Cloudshare’s Reporting Tools

Head to Cloudshare and log in with an account that has reporting permissions (usually Admin or Manager).

In the dashboard:

  • Look for the Reports or Usage Analytics section. It’s usually in the left sidebar or under the “More” menu.
  • If you don’t see it, you might not have the right permissions. Ask your admin.

Don’t waste time: Ignore the basic dashboard widgets if you want real detail. They’re fine for a quick glance, but not for ROI measurement.

Step 3: Pull a Usage Report

Here’s how to get a detailed usage report out of Cloudshare:

  1. Choose the Right Report Type
  2. Most folks want the Environment Usage or Resource Consumption report.

  3. If you’re only seeing high-level summaries, look for options to “Export Details” or “Advanced Reports.”

  4. Set a Useful Date Range

  5. Don’t default to “Last 7 Days” unless that’s really what you need.

  6. For ROI, monthly or quarterly ranges make more sense.

  7. Select Filters

  8. Filter by user, project, environment, or resource type.

  9. If you have a lot of environments, narrow it down—otherwise you’ll get a firehose of data.

  10. Export the Data

  11. Download as CSV or Excel. Cloudshare’s in-app charts are fine, but you’ll want raw data for real analysis.

Heads up: Cloudshare sometimes limits export size or frequency. If you hit a wall, break your range into smaller chunks.

Step 4: Make Sense of the Raw Data

Once you’ve got your CSV, open it up in Excel or Google Sheets. Here’s what’s usually in there:

  • Environment Name/ID
  • User
  • Start/Stop Times
  • Resource Types (CPU, RAM, storage)
  • Duration (hours/minutes)
  • Status (active, archived, deleted)
  • Cost estimates (sometimes—don’t count on it being fully accurate)

What Actually Matters?

Focus on:

  • Who is using what, and for how long? If someone spun up a huge environment for 10 minutes, that’s different from a team using it all month.
  • Idle resources: Look for environments that sit unused for days or weeks. That’s wasted money.
  • High-cost resources: Track down the biggest line items—are they justified?

Ignore: Overly granular logs (like individual VM restarts) unless you’re troubleshooting a specific issue. It’s noise for ROI.

Step 5: Map Usage to Cost (the Tricky Part)

Cloudshare’s usage reports sometimes include cost estimates, but these are often ballpark figures. For real ROI, you need to:

  1. Pull Actual Billing Data
  2. Go to the Billing section in Cloudshare.

  3. Download invoices or statements for your chosen date range.

  4. Match Usage to Spend

  5. Map environment usage (hours/resources) to the line items on your bill.

  6. If you’ve negotiated special pricing, be sure to factor that in.

  7. Calculate the Real Cost per Team/Project

  8. Total up the hours and resource types consumed by each group.
  9. Divide your total bill by these numbers to get cost per environment or user.

Warning: Don’t trust “estimated” costs in the usage report as gospel. Use them as a rough guide, not an audit-proof record.

Step 6: Build a Simple ROI Picture

Now that you know what was used and what it cost, you can start to measure ROI. But be realistic: unless you have crystal-clear data on business outcomes (like deals closed or students trained), your ROI will be “directional,” not precise.

Here’s a basic way to do it:

  • Calculate Total Cost (from billing/invoices)
  • List Key Outcomes (e.g., number of demos run, trainings delivered, dev environments spun up)
  • Divide Cost by Outcome (e.g., cost per demo, cost per environment)

Ask yourself:

  • Are you getting more value than you’re spending?
  • Is there obvious waste to cut?
  • Are some teams or projects getting a lot more from Cloudshare than others?

Don’t overthink it: You’ll rarely have perfect data. The point is to spot trends, not build a perfect financial model.

Step 7: Share the Results—But Don’t Drown People in Data

Your stakeholders (managers, finance, whoever signs the checks) don’t want a 20-tab spreadsheet. They want clear takeaways.

  • Summarize: “Here’s what we spent, here’s what we got, here’s where we’re wasting money.”
  • Use charts sparingly. A simple bar graph showing usage by team or month is plenty.
  • If you found unused environments or big cost spikes, highlight them.

Pro tip: Suggest 1-2 actions: “Let’s archive unused environments monthly,” or “Switch Team X to smaller instances.”

What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore

What Works

  • Exporting raw CSVs: Gives you real flexibility.
  • Filtering by team/project: Cuts through the noise.
  • Combining usage and billing data: The only way to get close to true ROI.

What Doesn’t

  • Relying on dashboard widgets: Too shallow for real analysis.
  • Ignoring archived or deleted resources: They still cost you if you forget to clean up.
  • Trusting Cloudshare’s “estimated cost” numbers blindly: Always double-check.

What to Ignore

  • Minute-by-minute logs, unless you’re debugging.
  • Reports you can’t tie to actual spend.
  • Vanity metrics (“total environments ever created”)—stick to what moves the needle.

Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Obsess Over Perfection

The first time you pull a usage report from Cloudshare, it’ll be messy. That’s normal. The key is to start simple, focus on the biggest costs or obvious waste, and get a little smarter each month. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good—just make sure you’re looking at the right data, not just the easiest report to export.

If you trim a few unused environments or catch a billing surprise early, you’ve already won. Keep at it, and you’ll have real answers when someone asks, “What are we actually getting out of this?”