FinOps: Beyond the Cloud
David Guilinger
Strategic IT Leader | Transforming Tech Challenges into Innovation & Business Growth
FinOps is often equated with cloud cost management—but that’s a narrow view. Its core principles—financial accountability, operational efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration—apply to all IT spending, including on-prem, SaaS, and hybrid environments.
?? IT Spend Optimization is Universal
Waste isn’t exclusive to the cloud. Traditional IT environments often suffer more due to:
? Over-provisioned virtual machines
? Unused software licenses
? Underutilized hardware
? Inefficient procurement cycles
?? Accountability Shouldn’t Stop at the Cloud
Fixed IT budgets often detach costs from decision-makers, leading to over-provisioning and waste. FinOps shifts financial responsibility closer to engineering and product teams, ensuring real-time cost awareness.
?? Traditional IT Lacks Cost Transparency
Unlike the cloud, legacy IT operates with long procurement cycles and outdated chargeback models, making cost tracking reactive rather than real-time. FinOps introduces visibility and financial discipline across the entire IT stack.
Beyond Cloud Cost Management
IT inefficiencies exist everywhere. Applying FinOps across all environments enables organizations to:
? Eliminate wasteful IT spending
? Improve financial accountability
? Increase cost visibility across all technology investments
Cloud was just the wake-up call—IT waste has been a problem for decades. FinOps is the solution.
#FinOps #ValueRealization
Product Manager | Passionista
2 周Good point here and in the Finops Foundation "State of the Finops" article. While cost management of cloud providers is very advanced, there is still a long way in SaaS apps.
Data, Analytics, ML & AI Leader | Solutions Architect | Value Strategist | Innovation Designer | Technology Futurist
2 周Absolutely Agree! These cost centers should be regarded as asset investments and undergo some evaluation of their return over time, whether marginal or exponential.
FinOps, Kubernetes, Cloud Automation, Cloud Security
1 个月Agreed, as an example, as engineers focus on shipping the next feature or solving a production issue, monitoring SaaS costs are quietly stacking in the background. They are often unaware of how pricing works and how quickly costs can add up. Correlating costs to your cloud cost is key to keep these under control.