FinOps is critical for managing costs
Cloud adoption exploded. What used to be a clean separation between on-premises systems and cloud services is now an interconnected ecosystem of infrastructure, software, and licensing spread across AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and more. Many organizations also run legacy data centers alongside modern SaaS platforms. That creates complexity. And with complexity comes cost uncertainty, unless you’re deliberate about managing it.
That’s where FinOps becomes essential. It’s a cultural and operational shift in how businesses understand the value of their technology investments. Instead of reacting to invoices after the fact, businesses using FinOps have real-time visibility into what they’re spending, why, and where that investment is impacting the business. It transforms cloud cost from a sunk expense into a strategic lever. CFOs like visibility. CIOs like control. FinOps gives both.
Ryan Storment of the FinOps Foundation put it simply: “We’re living in a happily hybrid world.” And he’s right. Enterprise environments now combine at least three or four cloud providers with SaaS and traditional IT on the same books. Without FinOps, executives end up driving blind. With it, they gain a dashboard for decision-making, spanning finance, procurement, and engineering.
For any executive focused on agility, cost control, and growth, this is how you operate a tech-first business at scale. Waiting until the budget is overrun isn’t a strategy. Aligning spending with value in real time is.
FOCUS is broadening its capabilities to include a wider range of IT spending
FOCUS, the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification, is now evolving fast. Originally built to map and standardize cloud cost and usage data, its scope has expanded to reflect how companies actually operate today. Businesses don’t just run on the cloud alone. They use platforms, SaaS tools, and traditional data centers, all mixing together to power operations and growth.
The update is simple: track everything. While early FinOps tools focused on cloud infrastructure, the next generation, starting with FOCUS, covers cost data across SaaS and platform services. One key initiative now underway will bring physical data center spending into the same system. No more tracking cost across seven spreadsheets and four procurement tools. One view. Real-time.
For leadership, this means tighter control and cleaner insights. When you can compare different types of spending in the same framework, you get decision-grade data, and faster ROI decisions. Whether you’re modernizing applications or managing third-party SaaS spend, you’ll now be able to track impact across categories with the same level of granularity.
Executives don’t need more reports. They need fewer, better ones. FOCUS aims to deliver just that, one plane of glass, one cost overview, across an increasingly complex ecosystem. So instead of reconciling cost after the fact, you steer budget and value in real time. That’s how modern enterprises should operate.
Major tech firms and hyperscalers backing FinOps
When companies like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft back a movement, you pay attention. Add in AMD, Nvidia, Snowflake, and ServiceNow, and it’s clear FinOps isn’t niche anymore. These firms don’t invest time, talent, or technical support into frameworks unless they see long-term value and scale. Their alignment with the FinOps Foundation represents more than support, it confirms FinOps as a strategic standard.
This matters for one reason: scale needs structure. These enterprises represent the backbone of cloud, compute, and software delivery across industries. Their support gives FinOps the technical credibility it needs and reinforces that cost control isn’t something you tack on later. It’s a fundamental requirement from day one of cloud adoption.
For C-suite leaders, this external validation reduces friction. You don’t need to explain why FinOps matters when the same framework is being implemented, and, in many cases, shaped, by the very platforms you’re running. That frees up time to shift your team’s focus from just managing costs to driving performance.
Now that FinOps methodologies are standardizing under the guidance of companies defining the future of cloud and AI, there’s strategic clarity. The question is no longer whether you should implement FinOps, it’s how fast you want to institutionalize it across departments.
Channel partners are leveraging FinOps
Traditional resellers are under pressure. Cloud adoption shifts how software and services are provisioned, leaving pure resale margins thin and unsustainable. The smart ones are adapting, pushing into advisory and managed services built around FinOps. Offering cloud usage analysis, forecasting, and cost allocation now gets them into the room with finance and technology leadership, not just procurement.
FinOps allows these partners to own more of the solution. Instead of selling licenses, they’re guiding spending strategy. That changes the relationship from transactional to strategic. Alex Smith at The Futurum Group explained it best: cloud financial operational assessments have become the “key offering” for channel firms moving upmarket. And they’re not doing it for margin, they’re doing it to stay relevant.
Modern channel partners are selling to CFOs and CIOs now. And those buyers don’t want slides, they want insights based on real-time data. FinOps gives partners the service framework to deliver that. It connects them to longer-term planning cycles, embeds them deeper with enterprise accounts, and opens revenue tied to consultative services.
This is where leadership plays a role. Firms that still treat partners as installers or service desk extensions are missing an opportunity. FinOps-led channel relationships are based on trust, insight, and alignment around value. Investing here doesn’t just support cost management, it strengthens your strategic network.
Global systems integrators (GSIs) and managed service providers (MSPs)
The largest professional services firms, Accenture, Deloitte, and EY, aren’t experimenting with FinOps. They’re implementing it at scale, embedding it directly into their enterprise transformation projects. These firms sit across strategy, finance, procurement, and engineering. So when they adopt FinOps, they don’t isolate it; they operationalize it across client ecosystems.
This signals a shift. FinOps isn’t just a financial reporting layer, it’s becoming part of the entire delivery model for IT and technology consulting. According to Ryan Storment of the FinOps Foundation, the most mature adopters are pushing FinOps into cross-functional processes, enhancing it with proprietary tools and service layers tailored to customer needs. That means real-time cost insights are built into infrastructure decisions, procurement strategy, and software ROI models.
Midsize MSPs and resellers are following that lead, adapting FinOps to support smaller enterprises and long-tail clients. These providers are building custom tooling and offering managed services that tie directly to ongoing FinOps practices. They’re not just reacting to cost overruns, they’re helping clients plan, allocate, and optimize spend before deployment.
For executives, this kind of service evolution simplifies decision-making. Instead of managing the mechanics of budget control across vendors, departments, and tools, FinOps-aligned partnerships consolidate visibility and drive accountability. When your integrators and MSPs speak in the language of value and impact, as opposed to hours and installations, you get faster alignment between operations and business goals.
This level of integration also puts pressure on internal teams. If your external providers are delivering deeper insights into software value and infrastructure costs than your internal functions, that’s an operational gap. FinOps isn’t just a vendor capability, it needs to be internalized, especially if agility and financial discipline are part of the growth agenda.
Key highlights
- FinOps is essential for hybrid IT environments: Leaders should adopt FinOps to gain real-time visibility and control over IT spending across cloud, on-premises, and SaaS environments, aligning cost with measurable business value.
- FOCUS expands visibility across the entire IT stack: Executives should ensure their finance and tech teams leverage expanded FOCUS capabilities to capture cost data from SaaS, platform services, and data centers within a unified system.
- Industry leaders are standardizing around FinOps: With AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and others backing FinOps, adopting these standards early positions companies to collaborate and interoperate more effectively across platforms and vendors.
- Channel partners are evolving through FinOps: Decision-makers should view channel relationships not as resellers but as strategic advisors, prioritizing those that offer FinOps-driven insights to optimize cloud investment efficiency.
- GSIs and MSPs are integrating FinOps into enterprise delivery: Executives should evaluate partners and internal teams on their ability to operationalize FinOps across finance, engineering, and procurement for more agile and cost-aware delivery models.
