Hi everyone! I'm planning to propose a migration from our current Jenkins setup to GitLab CI/CD. I've heard so many great things about the integrated experience and container-based runners.
My problem is that I'm a bit stuck on the business side. I need to build a case for the finance/management team, who will definitely ask about the return on investment. They don't care much about "nicer YAML syntax" or "better UI."
From what I've gathered, I should focus on:
* **Infrastructure Cost Savings:** Quantifying the maintenance overhead (hours spent monthly on Jenkins master/agent upkeep, plugin conflicts).
* **Developer Productivity Gains:** Estimating reduced pipeline debugging time and faster build times.
But I'm not sure how to measure these things effectively or what numbers really resonate. Has anyone successfully made this case? What metrics did you track before and after to prove the value?
For example, is it better to show a simple cost comparison like this?
```bash
# Current Jenkins Monthly Cost
# 3 dedicated VMs for agents: $300
# Estimated maintenance hours: 20 hrs * $50/hr = $1000
# Total: ~$1300/month
# Projected GitLab CI Cost (SaaS)
# Premium Tier: $29/user/month * 10 devs = $290
# Reduced maintenance: 5 hrs * $50/hr = $250
# Total: ~$540/month
```
Any advice on how to gather this data or frame the argument would be super helpful! I want to be prepared for their questions. Thanks in advance