By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
FinOps, sometimes called cloud FinOps, is a practice of optimizing a company’s spending on cloud capabilities. This is especially important for companies operating in hybrid cloud and multicloud environments that need to get the most value out of their cloud spend.
Key takeaways
FinOps tasks organizations with making the most efficient financial decisions on cloud spending. For example, companies optimizing their cloud spend might track it on a granular level, optimize the use of free trials, audit cloud licensing on a regular basis, and make a point of aggressively negotiating rates with vendors.
As Microsoft outlines, FinOps borrows from DevOps when it comes to managing cloud costs. Just as DevOps seeks to build a culture and a toolbox for an organization to optimize software development, FinOps gives organizations the culture necessary to relentlessly pursue efficient cloud spending.
Power of the purse
FinOps asks teams to examine processes related to cloud spending to then advise stakeholders on the best practices for reducing expenditures.
According to IBM, there’s a misconception that “FinOps means becoming cheap with cloud expenditure. Actually, FinOps is about removing blockers, empowering engineering teams to deliver better features, apps, and migrations faster, and enabling a cross-functional conversation about where to invest and when.”
With the acceleration of cloud usage, particularly in the context of data science and AI, more organizations are becoming concerned about wasteful spending, according to IBM. FinOps can help these organizations get what they need from the cloud without breaking the bank.
