Finops Journey: Insights and Strategies

Summary

1. Introduction

   • Chris Hennessy, an Enterprise Finance Strategist at AWS, is passionate about Finops (Financial Operations)
   • Finops is a combination of principles, practices, and a partnership between finance, business, and IT
   • Key benefits of Finops include accountability, decision-making, cost control, adaptability, and collaboration

2. Getting Started with Finops

   • Start small, build a virtual Finops team, and focus on key objectives like best practices, visibility, savings, data, and communication
   • Leverage tools like cloud cost management, account and tagging strategy, forecasting, and chargeback/showback
   • Emphasize training, education, and awareness to build a strong Finops foundation

3. Growing the Finops Practice

   • Expand the Finops team with diverse skills, including a champion, BI/reporting, analytics, and architects/developers
   • Utilize technology and tools, including AWS and third-party solutions, to enhance visibility and analysis
   • Improve forecasting and allocation processes, balancing accuracy, explainability, and consistency

4. Scaling Finops through Automation

   • Identify and address common cost optimization opportunities, such as over-provisioned resources, storage lifecycle management, and instance sizing
   • Develop a cost-conscious culture by implementing metrics, triggers, and alerts to drive continuous improvement
   • Emphasize communication, recognition, and change management to embed Finops practices throughout the organization

5. Customer Success Story: Whiz Cybersecurity

   • Whiz, a leading cloud security company, shares their Finops journey, focusing on information, optimization, and operations
   • Leveraging partnerships, cost optimization initiatives, and a Finops-driven culture to drive sustainable growth

6. Resources and Next Steps

   • Utilize the AWS Cloud Financial Capability Assessment to benchmark your Finops maturity and identify areas for improvement
   • Engage with the AWS Cloud Economics team and Technical Account Managers (TAMs) for additional support and guidance

The key takeaways are the importance of starting small, building a collaborative Finops team, leveraging the right tools and processes, and fostering a cost-conscious culture to drive successful Finops implementation and scale.