Optimisation with Automated FinOps | Cloud Bridge

Maximise Efficiency & Spend withAutomated FinOps

12 February, 24

If there’s one thing businesses want, it’s efficiency. Nowhere is this more the case than in financial operations (FinOps), where every little tweak could make a big difference to the bottom line.

As a leading provider with over 1.45 million businesses using their services, AWS is a typical top choice for companies that turn to the cloud. But, as with any service, there are always new ways we can optimise to get more from the systems we use. Businesses are continually seeking ways to optimise their AWS usage, not only to reduce costs but to enhance financial visibility.

 One powerful approach that’s been gaining prominence over the past few years is Automated FinOps—a methodology that brings automation to the financial operations of the cloud.

In this article, we'll explore the challenges of using AWS cloud environments, discuss solutions provided by Automated FinOps, and outline the significant benefits of taking the leap to this revolutionary method of cloud management.

Let’s dive right in.

Address Key Challenges

The cloud infrastructure market is a global titan, boasting a total value of well over $60 billion. But, despite the impressive market value, not everything runs smoothly in the world of cloud services.
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In fact, there are multiple challenges that AWS users repeatedly encounter.

Manual Tracking and Analysis

Manual tracking is normally top of the list.
 
Tracking and analysing AWS cloud expenses is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Businesses often have to grapple with spreadsheets, battle through complex data sets, and keep up with real-time changes in their cloud environment. This manual approach results in inefficiencies, delays, and a lack of granular insights into spending patterns.
 
Manual tracking also leads to scalability issues, as larger volumes of data take longer for humans to process and draw insight from.

Unpredictable Costs

Cloud services empower businesses to pay as they go, offering unlimited resources to get the job done. Sounds great, right? Well, absolutely. However, unlimited freedom can often leave businesses with unexpected costs at the end of a billing period.
 
Around 60% of companies report that cloud costs are too high or higher than they should be, according to 2022 data.

Addressing Key Challenges​

Fluctuating workloads, complex pricing models, and dynamic resource usage can lead to unexpected spikes in expenses. This lack of cost predictability makes budgeting and financial planning difficult, leading to potential overspending and financial uncertainty.
 
Cloud services should streamline financial operations, not add another ball to juggle.
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Lack of Financial Visibility
 
Ever feel like you’re flying blind in the cloud? You’re not alone. One of the most common complaints among businesses is that they lack financial visibility in AWS cloud usage.
 
Without a clear understanding of where their money is going within the cloud environment, organisations struggle to make informed decisions about resource allocation, identify areas of overspending, and align their cloud strategy with overall financial objectives.
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No matter how effectively businesses budget, if there isn’t a high degree of visibility as to where costs are going, tracking cloud spending is impossible.

How Does Automated FinOps Solve Common Cloud Challenges?

Automated FinOps provides a comprehensive solution to the challenges faced by businesses in AWS cloud management.

• Streamlines Manual Tracking – By streamlining the labour-intensive process of manual tracking, automated FinOps processes not only save time and ensure accuracy but also contribute to a more efficient, cost-effective, and agile cloud management process.
• Predictive Costing Models – Automation tools leverage advanced analytics and machine learning to predict and forecast future expenses accurately, empowering organisations to proactively identify potential cost escalations, set budget thresholds, and implement automated alerts.
• Full Financial Transparency – FinOps platforms address the lack of financial visibility by offering real-time insights through dashboards and reports, enabling detailed breakdowns of costs and tracking expenses across projects or departments.

Across the board, Automated FinOps  helps to solve key challenges within AWS cloud.

Why Should My Business Use Automated FinOps?

• Cost Savings: Helps businesses to save money by identifying inefficiencies, optimising resource utilisation, and avoiding unnecessary expenditures.
• Enhanced Efficiency: Automation tools reduces manual efforts, allowing teams to focus on high-value activities rather than routine financial tasks.
• Improved Resource Utilisation: Automated FinOps help businesses manage resources, ensuring optimal utilisation and preventing underutilisation or overprovisioning.

In this blog we've explored some of the common challenges businesses face with AWS cloud management, such as manual tracking, unpredictable costs, and a lack of financial visibility. 

Automated FinOps emerges as a pivotal strategy in the cloud optimisation journey,  setting companies up for success in the cloud. By leveraging automation, businesses can navigate the complexities of cloud financial management with greater precision, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. 

The adoption of Automated FinOps as a whole brings tangible benefits, including cost savings, enhanced efficiency, and improved resource utilisation. 

Cloud Bridge - your AWS Cloud partner 

• CloudCheckr from Spot by NetApp delivers a unique level of visibility to help you better manage and reduce cloud costs, optimise resources and gain operational efficiencies, define and enforce governance and strengthen security and compliance - all within a single platform. Your business could achieve 30% in cloud savings! 
• Reservations and Savings Plans – Cut costs in the cloud via optimisation strategies and recommendations. Cloud Bridge can help you analyse usage patterns and advise the most cost-effective reservation and savings plan option.
• Spot Instances – Spot instances are a purchasing option that allows you to bid for unused EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances at a discounted price. We can help you drive down 50-80% of the costs of EC2 out of your environment. Automation solutions also available to help manage kubernetes infrastructure.
• Private Pricing – With Cloud Bridge you have access not only to our experienced engineers but also to exclusive CloudFront pricing to suit your requirements, meaning you save even more money.

If you’d like to discover more about automated FinOps and best practices for cutting your cloud costs, contact a member of the team sales@cloud-bridge.co.uk or contact us via the link below.

Sounds great, right? So, how can Cloud Bridge help your business save money with automated FinOps processes and tools? Keen to find out more?
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