Hello FinOps

FinOps has revolutionized how businesses manage the cloud, shifting from a fixed cost mindset to a dynamic, variable spending model that requires constant oversight. This book is your professional roadmap, designed to help you balance financial accountability with technical agility.

This book systematically guides you through the FinOps lifecycle, beginning with core frameworks, governance, and an understanding of complex cloud billing and meters. It will help readers grasp the logic and discipline of cost controls in a multi-cloud environment, addressing the main cloud providers, AWS, Azure, and GCP, and providing practical examples and guidelines for a successful FinOps practice. Finally, the book focuses on building a collaborative culture between finance and engineering, using unit economics and KPIs to measure long-term success.

By the end of this book, readers will have a clear understanding and control of their FinOps practice across multiple public cloud environments, and full control of their cloud spend, ready to lead financial transformation in any modern organization.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
● Variable spend mindsets through the core FinOps lifecycle phases.
● Audit complex cloud meters and map billing to departmental organizations.
● Standardize multi-cloud billing data to compare costs across various providers.
● Learn saving techniques with right-sizing, clean-up, commitments, and recurring checks.
● The use of AI for FinOps teams.
● Measure, track, optimize, and present to a C-level audience.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
The book is for cloud business professionals, FinOps teams, tech support, business administrators, product managers, and power users working with Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP. In general, the book is for multi-cloud public hyper-scalers that are looking to get full, reliable, sustainable control of their cloud spend.

1. Fundamentals of FinOps
2. FinOps Framework
3. Understanding Cloud Bills
4. Using AI as a FinOps Ally
5. Right-sizing
6. Clean-up
7. Managing Kubernetes Costs in Multi-cloud
8. Reservations and Plans
9. Presenting Cost Data to Your Leadership Team
10. Recurring Cost Controls
11. Building a FinOps Culture
12. Measuring FinOps Success
Appendix: Cost Controls

Paola Annis has worked for over 30 years in IT for several tech companies, including Microsoft. She has extensive experience working with many companies on large migrations and digital transformation projects with Azure, GCP and AWS. In her daily work, she advocates FinOps and cost governance, sustainable software engineering, and women in tech communities. Paola has held leadership roles spanning architecture, pre-sales, and engineering management, consistently bridging business strategy and hands-on technical execution. She is also an active speaker and mentor, contributing to industry communities through talks, writing, and community initiatives. She lives in Milan with her kids, cats, and husband. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and listening to heavy metal music while embarking on improbable DIY projects for her country house.