specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: CDK Global
providerId: cdk-global
created: '2026-05-23'
modified: '2026-05-23'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
  - Automotive
  - DMS
description: >-
  FinOps view of CDK Global is dominated by long-term DMS contracts (per-rooftop subscription with
  per-module add-ons) plus, on the Fortellis side, an ISV/marketplace pricing surface (platform
  subscription + per-transaction API fees). CDK does not publish a public rate card for either
  surface; cost-engineering teams must request a custom-quote and reconcile invoices against
  per-rooftop and per-API-transaction line items. The June 2024 ransomware outage exposed a
  material business-continuity / FinOps risk — ~$605M in dealer losses across roughly two weeks
  of degraded availability.
sources:
  - https://www.cdkglobal.com
  - https://fortellis.io
publisherName: CDK Global, LLC (a Brookfield Business Partners portfolio company)
serviceCategory: Dealer Management Software / Automotive API Platform
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Contract Subscription + Marketplace Take Rate + API Usage
  billingFrequency: Monthly (DMS) / Continuous Settlement (Fortellis)
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Subscription
    - Usage
    - Implementation
    - Professional Services
    - Pass-Through (third-party ISV apps)
costAttribution:
  primaryDimensions:
    - dealership_rooftop_id
    - dms_module
    - fortellis_subscription_id
    - fortellis_api_name
    - data_owner_id
  secondaryDimensions:
    - oem_program
    - isv_app
    - heavy_truck_or_powersports_channel
optimizationLevers:
  - lever: Module rationalization
    description: Drop unused DMS modules at contract renewal — major savings vector since CDK contracts are multi-year.
  - lever: Rooftop consolidation
    description: Consolidating dealership groups onto fewer rooftops can reduce per-rooftop subscription totals.
  - lever: Fortellis API consolidation
    description: Reduce duplicate ISV apps that consume overlapping Fortellis APIs to shrink per-transaction spend.
  - lever: Event Relay idempotency
    description: Robust sink idempotency limits billable retries on transient sink failures.
  - lever: Business-continuity insurance
    description: Post-2024 ransomware, dealers should price cyber-insurance and BC reserves against CDK outage risk.
risks:
  - risk: Vendor lock-in
    impact: high
    description: >-
      CDK is the system-of-record for ~15K U.S. dealerships; switching to Reynolds, Tekion, or
      Dealertrack is a multi-year program.
  - risk: Ransomware / business continuity
    impact: high
    description: >-
      The June 19 — July 4, 2024 BlackSuit ransomware outage caused an estimated $605M in dealer
      losses and a $25M ransom payment. Recurring exposure of comparable scale must be
      provisioned for in cost-of-availability planning.
  - risk: Opaque Fortellis pricing
    impact: medium
    description: >-
      Public rate cards do not exist; per-call fees must be reconciled invoice-by-invoice with
      Fortellis account management.
governance:
  contractCadence: Multi-year DMS contracts; annual Fortellis platform agreements
  reconciliationCadence: Monthly invoice review
  recommendedTooling:
    - Internal FinOps dashboard tagging spend by rooftop + module
    - ISV-app inventory keyed to Fortellis subscriptions
focusAlignment:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
  notes: >-
    CDK does not publish FOCUS-conformant billing exports; invoices must be normalized into
    FOCUS columns (BilledCost, EffectiveCost, ChargeCategory, ServiceName, ResourceId) by the
    consumer's FinOps team.