She is senior strategic finance analyst at Talend, specialising in FinOps - an operational framework and cultural shift that brings finance, technology, and business together to drive financial accountability and accelerate business. The emergence of this activity can be attributed to the cloud revolution and its profound influence on businesses, a phenomenon that was non-existent a decade ago.
“FinOps is becoming a must-have practice for businesses looking to optimise their cloud spending. As the field continues to evolve, collaboration between teams, integration with agile methodologies, and prioritising sustainability will be key best practices for success in 2023,” Kamga says.
Talend serves customers across multiple industries, including finance, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and telecommunications. Among Talend’s clients are AstraZeneca and global financial-services corporation, Citigroup, which operates in South Africa through its subsidiary, Citibank South Africa.
In a new chapter for the firm, Talend was acquired by Qlik last month. Based in the US, Qlik specialises in data analytics and business intelligence.
Here Kamga unpacks FinOps trends:
The practice of Finops has gained momentum in recent years, as more and more companies are seeking to optimise their cloud spending. Over the past few years, FinOps has emerged as a distinct discipline within organisations, with a dedicated role and the implementation of specialised frameworks to effectively manage cloud expenditures.
Since the introduction of FinOps as a concept in 2019, the practice has evolved significantly. Initially focused on managing costs related to cloud services, FinOps has become a broader set of practices to help businesses align their cloud infrastructure spending with their business goals.
In the past few years since 2019, we saw significant growth in FinOps as a dedicated role within organisations. More companies started hiring FinOps professionals to help manage their cloud spending and optimise their cloud infrastructure. Additionally, the adoption of FinOps frameworks and best practices continued to increase, with more companies realising the benefits of having a structured approach to managing cloud costs.
A key trend in the evolution of FinOps has been the increasing focus on collaboration between different teams within organisations. The traditional silos between finance, IT, and operations have started to break down, with more cross-functional teams working together to optimise cloud spending.
This trend is highlighted in the 2023 State of FinOps report, which states that ‘other frameworks are starting to intersect and integrate with FinOps’, indicating a growing recognition of the importance of a holistic approach to cloud financial management and the need for cross-functional collaboration to optimise cloud spending and drive business value.
In addition, the emergence of new tools and technologies to support FinOps has been a key trend in recent years. Several vendors have released new FinOps-specific tools, such as Finout, CloudFix,Granulate, and Zesty, among others.
These tools help companies automate many of the manual tasks associated with FinOps, such as tracking and analysing cloud spending, and making it easier to implement FinOps best practices.
Moreover, the inclusion of FinOps in Pitchbook’s list of emerging spaces confirms the dynamic nature of this field and its potential for investment.
As more businesses look to optimise their cloud spending and improve their financial-management practices, FinOps is emerging as a critical discipline that can help organisations achieve these goals. Its recognition as a promising investment from an investor standpoint further solidifies its importance in the business world.
As the FinOps space continues to evolve, it’s important for businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest best practices to ensure they are getting the most out of their cloud spending.
Here are some of the key best practices for FinOps in 2023:
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As cloud adoption continues to grow, FinOps will become even more critical for organisations looking to manage their cloud costs effectively. Here are some of the emerging trends that are likely to shape the future of FinOps:
For instance, good governance practices in FinOps include clear policies and procedures for cloud resource management, defining cost-optimisation targets, and regularly monitoring performance against those targets.