Which term describes paying for reserved capacity that yields less savings than expected, leading to overpayment?

• A. Wasted Usage
• B. Costs Avoided
• C. Savings Potential
• D. Reservation Waste

Answer: (D)

Paying for reserved capacity that doesn’t deliver the expected savings leads to overpayment. This is called reservation waste: you commit to capacity to get lower costs, but your actual usage is too low or too unpredictable, so the reserved capacity sits idle or underutilized and the savings aren’t realized. In FinOps, the goal is to align reservations with actual demand; otherwise you’re effectively paying more than you would have with on-demand.

Other terms don’t fit because they describe potential or avoided savings rather than the actual financial consequence of underused reservations. Wasted Usage would focus on waste in the resources themselves, not the cost outcome of reservations. Savings Potential or Costs Avoided talk about what could be saved, not what you’re currently paying for that isn’t yielding those savings.