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.
Use Cloud for the Right Reasons
Savings are often touted as the primary benefit of 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.
Running in the cloud also gives enterprises the ability to move faster and grow their revenue. Even businesses in “nontech” sectors, like airlines, banks, and retail companies, are turning to software and data to differentiate themselves from competitors. Software helps connect them with their customers, optimizes their physical assets, and monitors their factories. It delivers the latest pop song, a retail package, and even people themselves all over the globe.
We’re no longer an airline. We’re a software company with wings.
Veresh Sita, CIO of Alaska Airlines1
In 2018, 7 of the 10 most valuable companies ...
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