- last edited on by
MaciejNeumann
If you've ever used the built-in "Log query usage and cost" dashboard to track and optimize your log query spending, you probably noticed there is no equivalent dashboard for business events.
I looked for it everywhere β the Hub, the documentation, the Community β and the closest thing available is the generic DPS Cost Allocation dashboard, which covers all capabilities but doesn't give you the granular, query-level detail you need to understand and optimize your fetch bizevents spending.
So I built one. Here it is.
What this dashboard covers
This dashboard mirrors the same approach as the log query usage dashboard, but focused entirely on business event queries. It includes:
- Query volume statistics, trends, and costs β total GiB scanned, number of queries, and estimated cost over time.
- Top 25 queries by billable volume β identify the most expensive
fetch bizeventsqueries in your environment. - Event queries in Dashboards β detect which dashboard tiles are running
fetch bizeventsand how much they cost on reload. - Auto-refresh detection β flag dashboards with bizevents queries set to auto-refresh every minute (a common cost driver).
- Queries not following best practices β find queries missing
filter,scanLimit,samplingRatio, orlimitwith default timeframes, as described in the DQL Best Practices documentation. - Bucket utilization β validate your bizevents bucket segmentation strategy and identify optimization opportunities.
- Detailed usage by Application and User β drill down into who is querying what and how much it costs.
How it works
The dashboard queries the dt.system.events tables β specifically BILLING_USAGE_EVENT and QUERY_EXECUTION_EVENT records β to calculate usage and costs. This is the same data source used by the log query usage dashboard, filtered for business event activity.
Access requires the storage:system:read permission. See default access policies for details.
Pricing configuration
The dashboard includes a Price variable that you can adjust to match your contract:
Licensing model Price variable value Explanation
| Classic (DDUs) | 1.70 |
DDU weight per GB for business event queries (docs) |
| DPS | Your rate card value (default: 0.0035 USD/GiB) |
Events - Query price from your rate card (docs) |
Note: Consecutive or parallel DPS contracts can have different price points. The cost calculated in this dashboard might differ from the official cost shown in the Account Management portal.
Why this matters
As business events adoption grows β through OneAgent payload capture, RUM, the bizevents API, log extraction via OpenPipeline, or Workflows β the query volume against the bizevents table can become a significant cost driver, especially when:
- Dashboard tiles with
fetch bizeventsauto-refresh every minute across multiple users. - Queries scan large timeframes without proper
filterorscanLimitconstraints. - All data sits in a single default bucket instead of being segmented by use case or retention needs.
This dashboard helps you identify these patterns and take action before costs escalate.
Optimization tips
- Extract metrics from business events via OpenPipeline β metric queries have no query cost and load faster on dashboards.
- Segment data into dedicated buckets β filtering by bucket improves query performance and reduces scanned data (end-to-end example).
- Follow DQL best practices β always use
filter, set explicit timeframes, and considersamplingRatiofor exploratory queries (best practices). - Disable auto-refresh on dashboards that don't require real-time data β or switch to metric-based tiles for those use cases.
Additional resources
- Calculate your consumption of Events - Query (DPS) β docs
- Calculate your consumption of Events - Retain (DPS) β docs
- DQL Best Practices β docs
- The value of business events: How IT can increase business agility β blog
- Extract metrics from business events to increase the value of Business Analytics β blog
- How to use DPS cost monitors β docs
- Business events end-to-end example β docs
The dashboard JSON is attached below. Import it into your environment and adjust the Price variable to match your licensing model.
Feedback, improvements, and suggestions are welcome β let's make this a community resource! π
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