diff --git a/doc/source/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.rst b/doc/source/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.rst
index 5d30f9d0e..a3e6ef592 100644
--- a/doc/source/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.rst
+++ b/doc/source/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.rst
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ The *vm_workload_consolidation* strategy requires the following metrics:
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
 metric                       service name plugins comment
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
-``memory``             	     ceilometer_  none
+``memory``                   ceilometer_  none
 ``disk.root.size``           ceilometer_  none
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ the strategy if available:
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
 metric                       service name plugins comment
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
-``memory.usage``             ceilometer_  none
+``memory.resident``          ceilometer_  none
 ``cpu_util``                 ceilometer_  none
 ============================ ============ ======= =======
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/change-ram-util-metric-4a3e6984b9dd968d.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/change-ram-util-metric-4a3e6984b9dd968d.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f30d0d730
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/change-ram-util-metric-4a3e6984b9dd968d.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+features:
+  - Enhancement of vm_workload_consolidation strategy
+    by using 'memory.resident' metric in place of
+    'memory.usage', as memory.usage shows the memory
+    usage inside guest-os and memory.resident
+    represents volume of RAM used by instance
+    on host machine.
diff --git a/watcher/decision_engine/strategy/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.py b/watcher/decision_engine/strategy/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 681f34d36..2c906579f
--- a/watcher/decision_engine/strategy/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.py
+++ b/watcher/decision_engine/strategy/strategies/vm_workload_consolidation.py
@@ -77,12 +77,12 @@ class VMWorkloadConsolidation(base.ServerConsolidationBaseStrategy):
     METRIC_NAMES = dict(
         ceilometer=dict(
             cpu_util_metric='cpu_util',
-            ram_util_metric='memory.usage',
+            ram_util_metric='memory.resident',
             ram_alloc_metric='memory',
             disk_alloc_metric='disk.root.size'),
         gnocchi=dict(
             cpu_util_metric='cpu_util',
-            ram_util_metric='memory.usage',
+            ram_util_metric='memory.resident',
             ram_alloc_metric='memory',
             disk_alloc_metric='disk.root.size'),
     )
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ class VMWorkloadConsolidation(base.ServerConsolidationBaseStrategy):
 
         if not instance_ram_util:
             instance_ram_util = instance.memory
-            LOG.warning('No values returned by %s for memory.usage, '
+            LOG.warning('No values returned by %s for memory.resident, '
                         'use instance flavor ram value', instance.uuid)
 
         if not instance_disk_util:
diff --git a/watcher/tests/decision_engine/model/faker_cluster_and_metrics.py b/watcher/tests/decision_engine/model/faker_cluster_and_metrics.py
index 3c40d6657..472b3e9e9 100644
--- a/watcher/tests/decision_engine/model/faker_cluster_and_metrics.py
+++ b/watcher/tests/decision_engine/model/faker_cluster_and_metrics.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class FakeCeilometerMetrics(object):
             return self.get_node_cpu_util(resource_id)
         elif meter_name == "cpu_util":
             return self.get_instance_cpu_util(resource_id)
-        elif meter_name == "memory.usage":
+        elif meter_name == "memory.resident":
             return self.get_instance_ram_util(resource_id)
         elif meter_name == "disk.root.size":
             return self.get_instance_disk_root_size(resource_id)
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class FakeGnocchiMetrics(object):
             return self.get_node_cpu_util(resource_id)
         elif metric == "cpu_util":
             return self.get_instance_cpu_util(resource_id)
-        elif metric == "memory.usage":
+        elif metric == "memory.resident":
             return self.get_instance_ram_util(resource_id)
         elif metric == "disk.root.size":
             return self.get_instance_disk_root_size(resource_id)