Cloud FinOps, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2. Why FinOps?

When you look at why organizations use the cloud and the benefits they get by doing so, the importance and necessity of FinOps become obvious. A successful FinOps practice expands and accelerates the business benefits made possible by cloud. Cloud shouldn’t be viewed simply as a rehosting alternative but rather as a business accelerator. In the same way, FinOps isn’t just about cost optimization, it’s about maximizing value.

Use Cloud for the Right Reasons

Cost savings are often touted as the primary benefit of the cloud. But the most successful cloud-first companies have shown the world that scalability and innovation are the true advantages.

Consider Spotify, which uses the scale of the cloud to stream content directly to customers all over the world. Or Flickr, which stores a massive amount of customer data safely in the cloud for secure, fast access. Because of the cloud, these companies compete in a way that they never could with their own data centers. Price is always a factor, but it’s a distant third to scale and global availability.

Using the cloud also gives enterprises the ability to move faster and grow their revenue. Even businesses in “nontech” sectors, like financial services, airlines, and retail companies, are turning to software and data to differentiate themselves from competitors. In fact, the top industry represented in the 2022 State of FinOps data was financial services and banks.

Software helps connect businesses with their customers, ...