LinuxFoundationX: Introduction to FinOps

Organizations using Cloud and DevOps face challenges to the traditional way IT has been procured, managed and optimized. Traditional siloes of IT, Finance, and Business are breaking down, and traditional procurement and financial management processes are significantly changed by the cloud. Cloud spend is more dynamic, less predictable, and understanding the vast amount of data on the cloud bill can be daunting. Companies want product teams to be more responsive to customer demand, for DevOps teams to build faster and better, and for costs to be managed tightly. FinOps provides a framework to align these groups within an organization to achieve these results.

The FinOps Foundation was formed in 2019 with the goal of helping practitioners learn from one another and develop new practices, concepts and tools needed to both align the work of internal Cloud stakeholders and manage the dynamic services offered by the hyper-scale Cloud providers.

This course is addressed to a wide audience:

• IT, DevOps, Engineers or Architects using Cloud to deliver value who want to understand how FinOps can help them integrate cost management as a metric in their environments

• Finance, Procurement, and Accounting professionals wanting to understand how FinOps can help them negotiate, purchase and manage cash flow for Cloud more effectively

• Business unit or Product Managers delivering product value with Cloud who want to understand how FinOps can help them innovate more, manage Cloud cost proactively and deliver value to customers quicker

• Executives and Managers overseeing environments that depend upon Cloud who want to understand how FinOps can help them build a culture of accountability that leverages Cloud for its strengths while aligning everyone to manage its cost and use.

This introductory course describes the basics of FinOps and how it can positively impact an organization. FinOps allows organizations to build a culture of accountability around Cloud use that lets companies make good, timely, data-backed decisions in the Cloud, not just to save money, but to make money.