Introduction
Today, I had the pleasure of hosting a webinar titled “Cloud Costs Out of Control? FinOps Is the Fix!”, where I explored how companies can stop uncontrolled cloud spend by adopting FinOps practices. This session was designed to provide both strategic insights and actionable tactics to help organizations better understand and manage their cloud financial operations.
Whether you’re part of a startup just starting your cloud journey or a large enterprise struggling with ballooning bills, this article recaps the most important points from the session—and shares the full presentation so you can dive deeper.
Why Cloud Costs Spiral Out of Control
Cloud infrastructure has enabled businesses to move fast, scale seamlessly, and innovate continuously. But with those benefits come hidden dangers—cost creep, over-provisioning, and lack of accountability.
In the webinar, I broke down some common reasons why cloud expenses get out of hand:
- Untracked resources running longer than needed.
- Lack of ownership or governance around infrastructure.
- Teams optimizing for speed, not efficiency.
- Poor visibility into who’s spending what and why.
These challenges are familiar to most cloud-native organizations, and tackling them requires a cultural and operational shift. That’s where FinOps comes in.
What FinOps Really Is
FinOps is the intersection of finance, engineering, and business—a practice that enables organizations to get maximum value from every dollar spent in the cloud.
It’s not just a set of tools or a role—it’s a collaborative operating model that empowers teams to make informed decisions about cloud usage.
Some key aspects we discussed:
- Visibility into costs and usage patterns
- Accountability across teams
- Optimization through real-time feedback loops
I also walked attendees through the FinOps Foundation’s principles and how they apply in real-world scenarios.
Understanding the FinOps Maturity Model
One of the key tools I shared during the session was the FinOps Maturity Model, which outlines how organizations progress from:
- Crawl: Gaining basic visibility and starting to understand cost drivers.
- Walk: Enabling teams with self-service dashboards, alerts, and targets.
- Run: Fully automated optimization and forecasting with embedded FinOps culture.
Where you are in this model helps determine your priorities and how aggressive you can be with cost optimization efforts.
Real-World Azure Cost Lessons
As someone who works closely with Azure environments, I shared several practical examples of how cloud costs can be optimized right now:
- Auto-Shutdown Policies for VMs
- Avoiding over-provisioned resources
- Surfacing hidden costs like storage snapshots and forgotten services
- Leveraging built-in tools like:
- Azure Cost Management + Power BI
- Azure Advisor
- Budgets & Alerts
- Tagging strategies for accountability
- Showback models to communicate costs across teams
Each of these levers is small on its own, but when combined, they can drive significant savings.
Watch or Revisit the Presentation
If you missed the live session or want to go back over the content, here’s the full presentation I used during the webinar:
👉 Download the presentation slides (PDF)
Final Thoughts
As organizations scale in the cloud, cost control is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. FinOps brings the discipline, processes, and collaboration necessary to make smart cloud spending part of your daily operations.
Thanks to everyone who joined me live today! If you have questions or want help implementing FinOps in your organization, feel free to reach out. Let’s keep the conversation going.