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What Is FinOps?

An introduction to FinOps, cloud spending management, the skills it involves, and examples cited in the original article.

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  • cloud computing
Close-up photograph of Indian rupee banknotes

Archive article, first published 2024-02-25. The original context and examples are retained for review.

Managing financial resources in cloud computing is a challenge for many organizations. FinOps, or Financial Operations, offers an approach to managing those resources. This article introduces the concept, who it is for, and the skills it requires.

What Is FinOps?

FinOps combines finance and operations, particularly in cloud computing environments. It aims to balance cost and performance, using data and analysis to inform financial decisions.

Who Is FinOps For?

The original article describes FinOps as an approach for organizations using cloud services at medium to large scale that want better visibility and control over cloud costs. This includes managing resources, planning budgets, and evaluating returns on investment.

Skills Needed for FinOps

  1. Financial understanding: The ability to analyze and interpret financial information.
  2. Cloud computing knowledge: Understanding cloud services and infrastructure.
  3. Data analysis: Using data to support financial decisions and planning.
  4. Communication: Explaining financial information clearly to different teams across the organization.

Companies Mentioned in the Original Article

The original article gives these examples of FinOps adoption:

  1. Nationwide Building Society: The UK financial institution uses FinOps to improve cloud cost control and spending transparency, informing investment decisions and IT resource allocation.
  2. Atlassian: The software company behind tools for development teams has adopted FinOps to manage cloud spending during product development.
  3. Coca-Cola North America: Uses FinOps to improve cloud resource management, scale cloud services with demand, and improve resource utilization.
  4. Intuit: The financial technology company behind QuickBooks and TurboTax uses FinOps to manage IT costs and improve agility in its cloud services.
  5. Adobe: Has piloted FinOps to manage cloud costs and improve collaboration between teams, supporting cloud efficiency and resource allocation.

The original article links these practices to greater transparency in IT spending, better investment decisions, more efficient cloud resource use, lower overall costs, and greater organizational agility.