Inspiring Melodies: Three Albums that Have Driven my Strategy in FinOps

Music continues to emerge as an inspiring element in my work. It is not uncommon for inspiration to arise from music, facilitating the generation of ideas. In this article, I pay tribute to three albums that have inspired new concepts related to my work in resource optimisation.

“Physical matter is music solidified” Pythagoras        

"The Wall" by Pink Floyd: The Commitments Strategy.

The imagery of "The Wall," with its orderly bricks and the realisation that resource utilisation contracts (Saving Plans and Reserve Instances) serve as protection against excessive spending, led me to envision a protective wall against excesses. The arrangement of successive contracts and the simultaneous management of different contracts could be represented as a wall. Part of the strategy involves defining the KPIs and goals that we must maintain, continuously monitoring their values, and considering actions to sustain our wall.

It is not enough to know just the renewal dates or recommendations; we must also be aware of project calendars, application changes, and other factors to make informed decisions.

In an initial version of the strategy, which was conservative with investments, I could decide not to invest for a period while usage trends were slow to grow and coverage declined. During this time, actions to reduce usage time and improve resources were the main focus before any new investment.

Over time, the imagery of Pink Floyd's wall has evolved. The reality is that an investment decision has an immediate effect, with results in 24 hours, while engineering decisions can take time. Accelerating certain stories is not always possible, and priorities are complex.

With a more dynamic political landscape, free from fixed calendars or investments, the wall becomes a more compact, less uniform structure. The new decisions resemble the irregular figures of the Walls of Cuzco, with a firm global structure ensuring greater success.

“Appetite for Destruction” by Guns N' Roses; The Cost Consciousness Pyramid.

One of the greatest frustrations in my role as a FinOps lead is, at times, the inability to alter the sequence of actions and achieve optimisation sooner. Often, this is due to technical debt logic, project priorities, or delivery commitments. However, sometimes it is simply due to a lack of knowledge about application costs or ignorance of possibilities to reduce costs.

Generating the same level of ambition for cost optimisation becomes an obsession, and I found the concept of "Appetite for Optimisation" very inspiring. "Welcome to the Jungle" resonates as the soundtrack when many insights turn into actions and tangible benefits.

And the feeling of using this appetite is growing in others; it's a way to see that optimisation is spreading as a concept within the organisation. As I developed in the article, "FinOps By Hammer" is not the best approach. It can bring a quick saving but with an small team, it is not possible to chase everyone.

"The example is not the main way to influence others; it's the only way." Albert Einstein

"Parallel Lines" by Blondie; New Perspectives on Optimisation.

The natural unit for measuring cost optimisation is the dollar, yet surprisingly, not everyone feels the same drive to save money. Some individuals may show more interest when the message of resource optimisation is linked to computational efficiency, seen as an engineering challenge.

Others may respond better to the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions, bringing them closer to sustainability and emphasising the impact on the planet. Alternatively, exploring ideas such as using units like "trees saved" or energy consumed can be effective.

Any concept we can employ to influence the design and development of applications is valid. The design moments are crucial, and it's always more efficient to consider optimisation during the initial steps of application definition and development phases than to try to achieve a better result with an already built application.

Sustainability, GreenOps, Compute Optimisation, Energy Awareness, and FinOps are "parallel lines "—activities that, with different units, contribute to improvement. They enhance the outcomes of our organisations, investments, the environment, and our world."