Cloud FinOps

Chapter 6. The FinOps Lifecycle

Back in Chapter 1, we discussed the core principles of FinOps. Principles are great as they help guide actions, but they need a framework in order to be implemented. Here’s the FinOps lifecycle framework you’re going to use: Principles → Phases → Capabilities.

The Six Principles of FinOps

We touched on the principles of FinOps before, but now we’re going to illustrate how they play out in action by looking at their real-world ramifications, each with specific capabilities designed to yield exact results. The principles again are:

• Teams need to collaborate.

• Decisions are driven by the business value of cloud.

• Everyone takes ownership of their cloud usage.

• FinOps reports should be accessible and timely.

• A centralized team drives FinOps.

• Take advantage of the variable cost model of the cloud.

Let’s unpack each of these in more detail.

Teams Need to Collaborate

First and foremost, FinOps is about cultural change, in terms of breaking down the silos between teams that historically haven’t worked closely together. When this is done right, the finance team uses language and reporting that moves at the speed and granularity of IT, while engineering teams consider cost as a new efficiency metric. At the same time, the FinOps team works to continuously improve agreed-upon metrics for efficiency. They help define governance and parameters for cloud usage that provide some control, but ensure innovation and speed still flourish.

Decisions ...