FinOps: Optimizing Cloud Costs to Increase Value | Deloitte US has been saved
More than ever, as cloud costs continue to rise, organizations are seeking ways to optimize their cloud spending. And as cloud usage keeps expanding, so does the complexity of managing and controlling costs. This is where FinOps comes in—a methodology that aims to optimize cloud costs by fostering collaboration and cooperation between financial management and cloud operations.
So, what is FinOps? FinOps is short for financial operations. It’s a set of strategies, practices, and tools that helps organizations manage their cloud spend more efficiently. The goal of FinOps is to bring the finance, business, and technology teams together to understand the organization’s cloud spend and how to optimize it.
FinOps is founded on leveraging a structured approach to cloud-spend optimization, starting with identifying cost drivers, followed by formulating and implementing cost optimization strategies, and monitoring and reporting on cost savings. By leveraging FinOps effectively, organizations can get more value from their cloud investments, without significant spending increases or compromised performance.
The three pillars of FinOps
FinOps is built on three pillars: people, processes, and technology.
Getting started with FinOps from the ground up
Getting started with FinOps can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some steps organizations can take to implement a FinOps program:
Increase the value of cloud investments with FinOps
FinOps can also help organizations get more value from their cloud investments. With a sound FinOps program in place, enterprises can gain more visibility into their cloud costs, identify what’s really driving those costs, and take corrective action to fix any issues that arise. These actions can enable tighter controls on spending, which can increase the spend-to-value ratio and enable enterprises to invest in more innovation and growth opportunities.
Closing thoughts
The bottom line is that organizations need FinOps because it provides a structured approach to managing cloud costs, which can quickly spiral out of control in the absence of proper monitoring and optimization. With the growth of cloud usage, organizations are seeking ways to optimize their cloud spending, and FinOps helps achieve this by bringing together finance, business, and technology teams to create an organizational understanding of cloud spend and how to optimize it. And, finally, FinOps promotes accountability and collaboration, leading to better decision-making and cost optimization strategies—which, in the end, helps increase the value of the organization’s cloud investments.
As the chief cloud strategy officer for Deloitte Consulting LLP, David is responsible for building innovative technologies that help clients operate more efficiently while delivering strategies that enable them to disrupt their markets. David is widely respected as a visionary in cloud computing—he was recently named the number one cloud influencer in a report by Apollo Research. For more than 20 years, he has inspired corporations and start-ups to innovate and use resources more productively. As the author of more than 13 books and 5,000 articles, David’s thought leadership has appeared in InfoWorld, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, Gigaom, and Lynda.com. Prior to joining Deloitte, David served as senior vice president at Cloud Technology Partners, where he grew the practice into a major force in the cloud computing market. Previously, he led Blue Mountain Labs, helping organizations find value in cloud and other emerging technologies. He is a graduate of George Mason University.