FinOps focuses on the collaborative management of cloud costs and resources, ensuring that every dollar spent in the cloud is tracked and used efficiently.
FinOps is an evolving cloud cost management discipline and cultural practice that enables organizations to get the most value out of their cloud investment. It brings together technology, business, and finance professionals with a new set of capabilities and tools.
FinOps stands for Cloud Financial Operations, and is centered around fostering collaboration among cross-functional teams, enhancing visibility into cloud usage and expenses, and promoting a culture of accountability and continuous optimization.
It's important not to confuse Cloud FinOps with "Financial Operations," also abbreviated as FinOps. Financial Operations refers to the broader aspect of managing an organization's financial resources, and the strategic allocation and stewardship of an organization’s financial resources, focusing on efficient systems and processes, ensuring compliance, and guiding overall business operations and decision-making.
According to the FinOps Foundation, FinOps is defined as "The practice of bringing financial accountability to the variable spend model of cloud, enabling distributed teams to make business trade-offs between speed, cost, and quality."
It means applying a financial lens to cloud decision-making, where the focus is on understanding and controlling cloud costs. It involves strategies like continuous measurement, real-time reporting, and iterative optimization. The benefits of FinOps include increased cost transparency, improved cloud efficiency, and the ability to make more strategic decisions about cloud investments.
