User Story
As a cost-management user, I want to predict next month's costs so that I can make better planning decisions.

Prioritization / Business Case

• Forecasting is a critical feature for securing a competitive advantage.
• Once we have an MVP, Forecasting is going to take time to fine-tune and shake out the more subtle bugs. So, starting this quarter aims for us to "launch" forecasting sometime around Q4/Q1.
• If we don't start now, it's unlikely we will deliver forecasting this year.

Impacts
API
Data Backend
Docs
UI
UX

Related Stories

• None

External Dependencies

• None

UX Requirements

• Cost forecast will show a linear regression in the Monthly Cost view on the Overview page

UI Requirements

• A new forecasting API will be created to show the total cost projection for a particular day of the month.

Documentation Requirements

• Do we need to document the forecasting feature? Documentation could explain the linear regression model.
• Do we need some basic info on how to understand the statistical information being presented. (e.g. limitations and considerations when interpreting the forecast.)

Backend Requirements

• Datasets to be used are the current and previous month cost data.
• Forecasting API will be newly created and separate from the reporting API
• Forecasting API must respect RBAC permissions for the user

QE Requirements

• API and UI automated tests should be developed.  Static nise files could be used to be able to pre-calculate what the forecasting API response will show.

Release Criteria
Can this epic be released as individual issues/tasks are completed?

• This epic can be implemented incrementally. There is an MVP where we deliver a simple linear regression or a moving average before jumping into ARIMA models and other fun stuff

Can the backend be released without the frontend?

• Yes. We could release this as a "backend-only" feature, depending on how we choose to implement it. (see UI/UX requirements)

Has QE approved this epic?

• Not yet