Estimate impacts of an existing inventory

[demeringo]

Problem

We can not get impact estimations of an arbitrary (simulation) or previously created (from-the-past) inventory. Cloud scanner only allows to request impacts of current inventory (live inventory).

Solution

Cloud scanner provides a json inventory format (output) that allow to export an inventory state.

1. Using the ìnventory` command we could export an inventory (as json) at date-1.
2. Add a new CLI option like estimate-from-json that could load the saved inventory, and launch it at date-2 (later).

This would allow to assess historical inventory (as it was on date-1) with the data of Boavizta API or other (as it is on date-2).

In the end, it allows easier comparison of results

• in time (if Boavizta figures / calculation method) evolve
• with different referentials

It would also allow a different use case: simulate the impacts of different variants of inventory / architectures

Alternatives

We could store historical data in cloud scanner, but we prefer not to do it, to keep cloud-scanner as stateless and light as possible.

We consider that the storage / versioning of historical data is not a cloud-scanner concern and should be handled by a specific tool.

Additional context or elements

We should also consider if the inventory capabilities of cloud-scanner should be maintained in a separate module.

[demeringo]

Consider also using a CSV or XLS to import inventory, could be easier for end user to estimate impacts.