Cloud FinOps, 2nd Edition

Chapter 14. Optimize Phase: Adjusting to Hit Goals

As you enter the optimize phase, your focus moves to making decisions in near real time, identifying anomalies, and spending efficiently. You use goal setting on metrics so your organization can understand how well it is performing against set expectations.

In this chapter we’ll expand on why you need goals, how they should be implemented in the FinOps world, and how to set them. We’ll also introduce the goals of cost optimization, which set the stage for the remainder of the optimize phase.

Why Do You Set Goals?

Every journey into the cloud tells a different story. For some, the speed with which all services are deployed into the cloud is more important than the cost of doing so. For others, the primary goal is to take it more slowly and ensure that the budget is maintained during the whole process. Others may already be in the cloud and are discovering that they’re spending much more than expected. They understandably feel a need to get things under control.

It’s worth noting that most organizations have multiple cloud stories going on at the team level. Some teams might be cloud native and looking to maintain their costs. Others are migrating or implementing new projects and are focused more on delivery time than on dollars spent.

By setting goals at the corporate level, and for each individual team, you’re able to keep track of business decisions, set expectations, and identify where within your cloud spend things aren’t ...