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Our Approach The journey towards transparency started with a meticulous review of the AWS services that constituted the largest cost contributors. It was discovered that some services were over-provisioned, idle, or remnants from previous implementations and tests. Moreover, a significant portion of resources was not properly tagged, which directly affected the visibility of how AWS costs were distributed among products and clients. To efficiently size applications, AWS CloudWatch metrics were utilized, gathering data over an adequate period. The analysis considered the use of Graviton processors, which enhanced instance performance and reduced costs. Additionally, more savings were achieved by implementing Reserved Instances and Savings Plans. One of the most effective strategies involved scheduling non-productive resources to be available solely during the IT team’s working hours, which led to a reduction in computing costs. The flexibility afforded by AWS CloudFormation enabled adjustments in response to the evolving needs of the team. The Results An important element of the strategy was the enhancement of cost visibility and control. This was achieved through meticulous identification and a tagging of resources . By leveraging AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Tag Editor, the environment was significantly organized, leading to a more precise allocation of costs across departments and cost centers. These efforts culminated in a substantial annual cost saving of approximately 35% . This efficiency enabled a proportional distribution of AWS expenses among the various areas and their respective cost centers, fostering a culture of engagement and cost awareness among key business stakeholders. This, in turn, has paved the way for further strategic investments within the company. Beyond the immediate financial benefits, the company is now prepared to advance its innovation journey, underpinned by the robust governance framework established within its cloud infrastructure. From the outset, the implementations have ensured a well-regulated environment, setting the stage for sustained growth and development. This case study stands as a compelling illustration of the significant impact that strategic cost optimization and resource management can have on an organization’s bottom line and operational excellence. Learn more: >> What is FinOps? Linking cloud costs to business outcomes >> Tagging Strategy: Start with these 5 recommendations

An efficient tagging strategy is one of the most important items for infrastructure management among many other decisions to achieve efficient cloud management and adopt a FinOps framework. Despite its critical role, many companies still falter in maintaining even a minimum level of organization in this area. This challenge often stems from a lack of information and the difficulty of cultural change among employees, often by attempting to start on an overly ambitious scale. With this issue in mind, here are 5 recommendations on how to gradually progress in this area and to increase the likelihood of success. You may also read: >> Success story: Cloud costs drop 35% with tagging strategy and resource optimization for logistics leader 1. Define basic and mandatory tagging One of the most common mistakes at the outset of this journey is attempting to implement too many mandatory tags. This can lead to frustration and decreased engagement, as it burdens a team not yet accustomed to such tasks. To mitigate this challenge, we recommend starting with a few essential tags: Application Environment (for example, Production, Homologation, and Development) Cost Center Owner In addition to defining tagging keys, it’s essential to establish standards for tagging values. Take the term “production” for example. Policies will not be effective if team members use variations such as ‘prod’ or ‘Production’. Therefore, adopting a company-wide standard is crucial for consistency. 2. Choose a single account to initiate policy implementation To garner support over time, it’s ideal to select one account, potentially the one with the highest spending, to begin enforcing the tagging policy. This approach ensures a smoother transition, rather than abruptly changing procedures overnight. For instance, on AWS, you can utilize Tagging Policies to establish mandatory rules. 3. Require new resources’ creation with tags Ideally, all new features should be developed using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), with tagging rules already established. This should be the long-term goal. However, initially, it will be time-consuming to review existing resources and apply tags to all of them. As a first step, it is recommended to require new resources to be created with tags. This will prevent the problem from worsening and initiate the shift in culture and processes. 4. Review the most expensive resources and implement the tagging strategy Now that we’ve established the rules and the new features in our main account have been created with tags, it’s time to deal with the past. The question arises: where to start? The answer is simple: start where the impact is greatest. When examining spending on the account, identify the services with the highest costs and prioritize the review and implementation of tags. Over time, you will have a clearer understanding of the company’s main expenses, gradually covering all resources. 5. Spread this practice throughout the company Once the tagging pilot is up and running in one account, likely, teams will naturally start adopting it in other accounts. Now it’s time to make the tagging policy mandatory, following the same sequence of requiring new features to be created with tags first and then reviewing the biggest problem areas in each account. By following this process, there is a great chance that, in a few months, you will be much more successful in implementing tagging policies in your company. In this FinOps Foundation podcast , Sarah Kula and Svetlana Pogrebny from the Canadian Institute for Health Information share their learnings, mistakes, and successes in implementing a tagging strategy, following a very similar working model. In a matter of months, they managed to achieve something they hadn’t done in years. In summary, when organizations follow these 5 steps before using a tagging strategy, they can make a bigger difference with kindness. This step-by-step method doesn’t just make things work better and use resources smarter, it also creates a supportive atmosphere for growth and success in meeting cloud management goals. Start now!

In the first episode of e-Core’s Fireside Chat, our host and Managing Director Dan Teixeira led an engaging discussion with two industry experts: Filipe Barretto, e-Core’s AWS Global Practice Leader, and Bruno Vilardi, Solutions Architect at e-Core. Within 48 minutes, they explored how cloud computing has evolved from a mere technical tool to a strategic cornerstone influencing decision-making at the highest levels. Filipe Barretto started the conversation by shedding light on how perceptions of cloud computing have shifted over time. Drawing from his decade-long experience in the cloud ecosystem, Filipe emphasized how cloud technology has become instrumental in driving business agility and fostering innovation. Bruno Vilardi expanded on these insights, highlighting the diverse benefits of embracing cloud computing, including cost savings, improved staff productivity, and enhanced operational resilience. The conversation then shifted to the importance of industry-specific solutions and innovation within cloud computing. Filipe and Bruno discussed how businesses can identify and seize market opportunities by harnessing data-driven insights. They also showcased e-Core’s tailored approach to addressing specific business challenges through AWS/cloud solutions, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right tools and overcoming innovation barriers. Financial predictability and optimization in cloud operations were also key points of discussion, with a focus on FinOps practices. Filipe explained the concept of what is FinOps and its critical role in optimizing cloud-based solutions, while Bruno shared practical strategies for effectively managing cloud resources to drive down costs and enhance operational efficiency.

Understanding a company’s FinOps maturity requires evaluating its performance across different domains and capabilities. This comprehensive understanding enables the identification of both strengths and areas for improvement, laying the groundwork for tailored action plans. For every capability, it is crucial to assess proficiency across dimensions such as knowledge, processes, metrics in detail, adoption, and automation. In this article, I will furnish comprehensive insights into each of these levels, with a detailed understanding of their significance in the context of FinOps maturity assessment. Knowledge This perspective considers the understanding and awareness of a particular capability in the company. At this level, it is assessed how widespread the concepts, mechanisms, terms and processes are in the company. Procedures This perspective considers the set of the actions being carried out to deliver the evaluated capability. It considers how well-defined and documented these activities are. Adoption This perspective considers how widespread a given capability is within a particular group. Metrics This pillar evaluates how metrics are defined and used for each capability. To be successful, it is necessary to measure and track progress over time. Additionally, it is necessary to understand how data is collected and its relevance. Automation  This pillar, which requires a higher level of maturity, assesses how much tasks are being automated to bring speed, consistency, and consistency scale to the adoption of FinOps practices in the company. For each of these foundational pillars, we have delineated the maturity levels into five stages: if that dimension is lacking, limited, progressing, if they are proficient in that dimension, or if they possess exemplary knowledge in it. In order to establish a benchmark for our maturity, it is imperative to delineate our objectives, enabling meaningful comparisons. It is unrealistic to anticipate that a company will emerge as a knowledge leader across all 15 capabilities assessed. Focusing on a single objective for the year, it may be pragmatic to strive for complete knowledge in the majority of the items, while accepting partial or developing knowledge in others. After a period, even with more in-depth knowledge from the experience of implementing a FinOps culture , the assessment should be carried out again, and the maturity objectives will certainly have changed. To gain an initial understanding of your company’s FinOps maturity, reach out to us to receive details about our maturity assessment process.

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To implement a successful FinOps practice within companies, a crucial initial step is necessary: thoroughly grasping its FinOps principles. These principles serve as the cornerstone of the entire FinOps Framework, and the success of its implementation hinges upon the company’s adherence to them. The FinOps principles serve as the guiding compass for FinOps practices. They do not hold any hierarchical order or precedence; rather, they must be regarded as an interconnected set, each requiring adherence for the strategy to thrive. Achieving this demands full organizational awareness and active implementation across all levels. This article uncovers six key FinOps principles that are essential for achieving success in the FinOps Journey , as we can see in the diagram below.

In recent years, the rise of cloud computing has revolutionized the way organizations operate, providing unprecedented flexibility and scalability. However, the transition from CapEx to OppEx investments in technology has also brought considerable financial challenges, highlighting the critical need for an effective approach to cost management in cloud environments. In this context, the central concept of FinOps emerges: a constantly evolving framework aimed at optimizing financial management in this new technological paradigm. This article sheds light on FinOps, providing a clear understanding of what it is, why it was created, its importance in today’s business landscape, and tips on its implementation. The imperative of FinOps Before the cloud computing era, implementing new solutions required a complex and time consuming process. Development and Engineering teams had to request servers to the procurement department, which then acquired the infrastructure. During that time, it was common for the demand to change and when the servers were bought, they might not be the ideal ones anymore. Finally, the infrastructure team had to configure the operating system, security policies, networking, and give access to the development team. Although this allowed for a high degree of control over costs, the result was often a considerable slowdown in the innovation process. The rise of cloud computing flipped this model on its head. Teams can now quickly set up infrastructure and experiment with new solutions, accelerating innovation. However, this freedom often led to unchecked spending and reduced visibility into costs. The FinOps concept was created to address this issue by fostering a partnership between tech and finance teams to manage cloud expenses effectively. What is the definition of FinOps? The FinOps Foundation describes FinOps as “an operational framework and cultural practice which maximizes the business value of cloud, enables timely data-driven decision making, and creates financial accountability through collaboration between engineering, finance, and business teams.” (Learn more about the FinOps definition ) FinOps, therefore, is an organizational practice that aims to ensure that companies are using their cloud resources efficiently and effectively. In summary, FinOps helps organizations: Bring financial accountability in the variable cost model in the cloud; Enable distributed IT, finance, and business synchronization for agility, costs, and quality; Allocate technology costs linked to the generation of business value for the organization. An Electricity Bill Analogy By definition, Cloud Computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources without direct active management by the user. With that in mind, we can draw a connection to how we consume electricity: it’s (almost) always available, there is a huge network of cables that takes care of getting electricity to us, and at the end of the month, we pay only for what we’ve used, with no need for upfront payments or commitment. In the context of our electricity usage, some services are essential (like refrigerators), justifying their expense. Others (like microwaves) save time and money. Even non-essential services (like TV) can offer benefits in certain scenarios, such as entertainment that isn’t crucial for our survival, and small, unnecessary expenses (like leaving lights on) can add up. Choosing which cloud services to use is similar to selecting which appliances to plug in, considering their return on investment. We can decide that it is worth turning on the AC on a hot day because we have an important meeting and need a good night’s sleep, for example. It’s always about trade-offs and return on investments. 

When cloud computing revolutionized organizational data management and operations, significant effort was directed towards optimizing its use. Similar to DevOps, which dismantled silos and enhanced agility, FinOps has emerged as a cultural transformation uniting Finance, Engineering, and Business professionals along the three FinOps Phases: Information, Optimization, and Operation. Through a synergistic blend of people, processes, and technology, FinOps empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions regarding their cloud expenditures. This article delves into the FinOps journey, outlining its significance and the critical phases involved. The 3 Phases of the FinOps Journey The FinOps journey comprises three phases that appear straightforward in theory. However, many companies face challenges during implementation. Adhering to this cycle empowers FinOps personas to act assertively, fostering the company’s maturity. Learn about each of the phases outlined below: