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Start working smarter in the cloud too: cost optimization is no longer a choice
The cloud has fundamentally changed the way we work and innovate. It offers unprecedented flexibility, scalability and speed. With those benefits also comes a challenge: costs that rise unpredictably and are difficult to control.
Recognize this? You want to maximize the benefits of the cloud, but without expenses skyrocketing or losing control. Managing cloud costs sometimes seems like juggling more and more balls in the air. And that juggling also comes with an escalating peppered bill. Getting control over this is crucial - not only to monitor budgets, but also to keep room for growth and innovation.
In this blog, we'll discuss how to strike a balance between optimal performance and cost control, why cost optimization should be an integral part of your strategy and how the structured approach FinOps helps you do this. Because working smarter in the cloud starts with making the right choices.
So what is FinOps and why do you need it?
FinOps, short for Cloud Financial Operations, is the approach to tackling this growing complexity. It's not just about saving money; it's about finding the right balance between cost, speed and innovation.
FinOps is about more than just controlling costs - it's about collaboration and taking responsibility. It brings financial and technical teams together so everyone understands where cloud spending is coming from and how it contributes to business goals. This means that IT doesn't just build and finance doesn't just budget, but that both departments have real-time visibility and steer together on both cost and value.
Instead of endless discussions about budget overruns after the fact, FinOps creates a culture of transparency and data-driven decisions. This allows you to take timely action to adjust - without surprises at the end of the quarter.
With FinOps, you achieve more than just cost-control:
- Full control of your cloud expenses through real-time monitoring and direct allocation of costs by department, team or project.
- Optimize costs without losing flexibility and speed so that the cloud continues to work as intended: scalable and innovative.
- Making teams accountable for their own spending, leading to more conscious choices and less wasted resources.
FinOps is not an optional tool or process; it is a strategic necessity. In a world where cloud costs are rising rapidly, FinOps helps you stay in control while continuing to innovate. Because those who don't control their cloud spending are missing opportunities.
How do you implement FinOps in your organization quickly?
FinOps success starts with a crisp and structured approach including a shared vision within the organization. It's not just about tools and processes; creating a culture where cost management and innovation go hand in hand is just as important. How to do that yourself? Here are three essential steps to successfully implement FinOps:
Step 1: Create transparency
You can't manage cloud costs until you know where they're coming from. Provide tools and reports - such as our Cloud Cost Optimizer™ - that give insight into what costs are being incurred by whom and why. With these, you have and can:
- Real-time monitoring of costs and usage at the click of a button.
- Allocate costs to departments, teams, projects or products, so that responsibility is placed where it belongs and thus directly felt.
- Dashboards that present data understandably, without technical details becoming overwhelming and so that the real situation and conclusion is immediately visible.
Step 2: Make teams responsible
FinOps works best when everyone in the organization participates. Teams that are responsible for their cloud usage make more conscious decisions. This requires:
- Clear agreements about who is responsible for what costs - we have experience with this, have standards for making agreements.
- Training to teach teams how to use resources more efficiently.
- Incentives to encourage cost-conscious behavior without limiting speed and innovation.
Our experience is that teams and departments respond very positively to shared responsibility; most users don't dwell on the cost explosion that (their) cloud use often causes.
Step 3: Optimize without constantly working on it
FinOps is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process. Keep looking for ways to get more value out of your cloud investments. Consider:
- Rightsizing: paying only for what you really need.
- Automation: setting up processes to automatically turn off unused resources.
- Long-term planning: use reserved instances or savings plans to make predictable workloads more cost-effective.
Our advice: make FinOps part of your DNA, you're going to be very happy.
Implementing FinOps requires commitment, but the rewards are great: lower costs, more control and room for growth. Moreover: by creating a culture that focuses on transparency and collaboration, you ensure that the cloud is not just a cost item, but primarily a strategic asset that moves your organization forward.
Why cloud provider portals are not enough for FinOps
Cloud provider portals, such as those of AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, offer a good starting point for monitoring cloud costs. They provide insight into spending, usage and trends. But when it comes to FinOps - where deep collaboration, transparency and optimization are key - these portals fall short. Here are the main reasons:
Reason #1: Lack of context
Cloud portals show high-level costs, but do not provide the in-depth context needed to make strategic decisions. Consider this:
- No clear allocation of costs to specific teams, projects or business goals.
- No or at best limited limited understanding of how costs contribute to value creation within the organization.
Reason #2: Complexity of data
The amount of data offered by portals is often complex and overwhelming. Without specialized knowledge, it is difficult to extract actionable insights from detailed cost reports. We see that this often leads to:
- Lack of actionable insights: It is virtually impossible to see where concrete savings can be made.
- Very difficult interpretation for non-technical stakeholders.
Reason #3: Limited automation.
FinOps requires continuous optimization of cloud usage, but cloud portals often offer no or limited capabilities to automate processes, such as:
- Shutting down unused resources.
- Optimizing workloads based on changing needs.
Continuous optimization may sound like an extra burden, but it actually frees up budget to be deployed elsewhere in the organization.
Opt for specialized FinOps
Where cloud portals fall short, specialized FinOps services like the Cloud Cost Optimizer™ provide a solution highly valued by our customers. This service combines data from different sources, provides in-depth analysis and automates optimization processes. This allows you to not only manage costs, but also strategically drive value.
Interested? Make a non-binding appointment with me. Then we'll discuss together how your cloud spend will bring you maximum value while keeping your cloud spend as low as possible.