Enter the FinOps Universe: The Team-Up of Finance and Cloud Tech

FinOps is like assembling a superhero team. Imagine finance savvy meets cloud tech expertise in a dynamic duo (or rather, a whole squad!) to tackle the financial challenges of cloud spending. This isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s about making smart, strategic investments that help your business soar. Think of it as putting your dollars on a fitness plan — they come out leaner, meaner, and more powerful.[it is oriented finops way on GCP for now]

The Three Pillars of FinOps: Inform, Optimize, Operate

1. Inform: It’s like turning on the Bat-Signal, but for costs and budgets. Make sure everyone from the intern to the CEO can see what’s being spent and why. It’s all about transparency, making sure your cloud spending doesn’t turn into a mysterious black box.
2. Optimize: This is where your inner tech wizard comes out. You look for spells to reduce costs without zapping your cloud’s performance. Imagine having a magical wand that points at underutilized resources saying, “Be gone!” and poof — your bill shrinks.
3. Operate: This is keeping your eye on the horizon, ensuring your cloud’s voyage is sailing smoothly towards your business goals. It’s like being the captain of a ship, adjusting the sails (resources) to catch the right wind (business needs).

How to Embark on This Adventure

• Informing through Dashboards: Picture building a magic mirror (aka a dashboard with data looker Studio) that reflects your cloud spending and recommendations. This isn’t just any mirror; it shows you where every coin is going, helping you make smarter decisions.
• Optimizing the Quest:(How?)

*Dive into the dungeon of underutilized resources with your trusty sidekick, a cloud function that alerts you when there’s treasure to be saved. And don’t forget to wield the mighty sword of Commitment Discounts (CUD) and Reservations to slay the dragon of overspending.

*For Storage: Implement a spell (policy) that cleans up forgotten artifacts (unused files).

*Harness the Power of Spot Instances: Like finding a potion that gives you the same power for less, spot instances can significantly reduce your costs.

• Embrace Serverless: Think of it as summoning cloud resources on demand — you only pay for what you use, making it a nimble and cost-effective ally.

More details below

Label Your Projects with Magic Labels

Imagine labels as magic runes that you engrave on your projects. These runes help you sort, identify, and manage your projects like a wizard manages their spellbook. Here are the runes you need:

• Team: Know which group of wizards (team) is working on what.
• Service: Identify the type of magic (service) each project uses.
• Cost Center: Track where your gold (money) is going.

Labeling your projects with these runes gives you a crystal clear vision of your kingdom in a neat dashboard, making it easier to manage your resources and gold.

Export GCP Recommendations to BigQuery

Imagine sending your fastest scout (the GCP recommendation tool) out into the wilderness, who then returns with valuable maps (recommendations). You store these maps in your castle’s library (BigQuery) for further study. This way, you can look at these maps any time to find treasures (optimization opportunities) hidden in your realm, visualizing them on a magical map (dashboard).

Enforce a Labeling Policy

This is like setting a spell around your kingdom that prevents anyone from building structures (projects or resources) without marking them with runes (labels). It ensures that every new creation in your realm adheres to your organization’s magical rules, keeping your kingdom orderly and your treasury (budget) in check.

Monthly Council with Your Teams

Think of this as gathering your council of wizards, warriors, and archers (your teams) every month to discuss the kingdom’s defenses (optimization strategies). It’s a time to share tales of victory (successful optimizations) and learn from the battles (what could be improved).

Implement with IaC (Infrastructure as Code)

Now, to ensure all these strategies are not just dreams, we use a powerful spell called IaC. This allows you to conjure buildings, defenses, and even entire cities (cloud resources) with just a few words (code). It makes setting up your kingdom efficient, repeatable, and less prone to human error.

Simplify Optimization

In simple terms, optimization in our magical kingdom means making sure that every gold coin (dollar) is spent wisely. It’s about using spells (cloud services) only when needed, ensuring our defenses (resources) are just right for our needs — not too big, not too small. It’s the art of balancing our treasure chest (budget) while still growing our realm (business).

By following these steps, you’re not just managing a kingdom; you’re leading a prosperous and wise realm into a golden age of efficiency and growth. All it takes is a bit of magic (smart FinOps practices) and a willingness to embark on this grand adventure!

So, there you have it, an epic quest into the realm of GCP FinOps, where every decision you make leads to more treasure (savings) and glory (business growth). And the best part? You’re doing it with the flair and wisdom of a financial wizard teamed up with cloud technology. Let the adventure begin!

Finops Process

Think of this article as the treasure map that leads to the legendary city of FinOps, a place where your cloud spending turns into smart investment.

Remember that I’m here to guide you through the wilds of FinOps with more detailed maps (tutorials) and spells (tools). If you ever find yourself facing a fierce dragon (complex challenge) or simply need a new spell (piece of advice), just send a message through the magical ether (ping me), and I’ll be ready with a techy tutorial to help you on your quest.

I wrote this in 15 minutes, not because it’s simple or easy (i mean the finops), but to quickly set others on the right track and sahre knowldge