FinOps has emerged as a critical cross-team function, especially for organizations navigating multi-cloud environments. So I sat down with our CEO and co-founder, Sasha Kipervarg, to discuss the practical lessons he’s learned building a collaborative FinOps strategy.
Based on his extensive FinOps experience, Sasha shared insights on how businesses can break down organizational silos and drive accountability. He also provided actionable guidance for FinOps teams seeking to optimize their cloud spend and align it with strategic business objectives.
FinOps in action: Key learnings for multi-cloud organizations
We often see FinOps initiatives confined to technical teams, like Operations and Engineering. What is a common misconception about this siloed structure, and how does it hinder effective multi-cloud cost management?
A common misconception is that FinOps is purely a technical matter. In reality, cloud costs impact the entire organization. When teams are siloed, overspend often triggers a mandate from Finance for Engineering to cut costs, without much context. This leads to one-off fixes and a focus on simple cost reduction, not cost efficiency. FinOps, with its cross-functional approach, addresses both. Finance teams need visibility into cloud spend, and engineering teams need to understand its financial impact. Without collaboration, you end up with fragmented data and misaligned priorities.
Bridging the gap between technical and financial teams can be challenging. What practical advice do you have for FinOps leads looking to establish clear and efficient communication channels across their organization?
Standardizing reporting can help. So can regular cross-functional meetings to discuss cloud spend and performance. Shared dashboards and data visualization tools bridge the gap by providing a common language for technical and financial stakeholders. And a frequent oversight is the importance of leadership alignment. My advice is to start there, because when finance and engineering executives are in agreement on goals and responsibilities, it streamlines the process and provides direction when issues come up.
One of the biggest hurdles in collaborative FinOps is defining responsibilities. How can organizations define shared ownership and accountability within their FinOps practice?
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities go a long way in avoiding confusion. Chargeback and showback models are great tools for creating accountability by allocating cloud costs to the departments or teams that use them. That kind of visibility encourages a sense of ownership and responsible cloud consumption. It’s also helpful to build custom labeling and scoped views so each team can see the data that’s most relevant to them.
Introducing new FinOps capabilities and tools can sometimes be met with resistance. What strategies have you found effective for demonstrating the value of FinOps and overcoming internal resistance?
Data-driven insights make all the difference. When you show real results, like cost savings and improved efficiency, it’s easier to get buy-in. For example, organizations using FinOps platforms like Ternary can achieve up to 30% savings in cloud spend through smarter cost management and optimization. Start with small, manageable changes and build momentum. One way could be starting with simple showback models and moving to chargeback models later, but only after confirming they’re accurate and your team is ready. And finally, emphasize the long-term benefits of FinOps, like predictable budgets, the ability to reinvest in product innovation, and sustainable growth.
Organizations can experience both rapid growth and fluctuating consumer demand. How can cross-functional FinOps teams ensure their cloud cost management practices scale efficiently to keep pace with change?
As organizations grow, so do cloud costs, thanks to increased operational complexity and higher data volumes. To handle this, it’s important to use FinOps tools that can adapt to your business needs. Continuously monitoring and predicting cloud spend means technical and finance teams can spot trends and plan for future costs. Machine learning helps by analyzing data and forecasting potential expenses. When it comes to Kubernetes, agentless monitoring simplifies cost management and makes sure cloud resources are used efficiently, so teams can fix issues quickly and avoid unexpected cost spikes.
And, of course, FinOps tools should have multi-cloud capabilities to accommodate organizational growth. If a company initially relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and later incorporates Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Microsoft Azure, a FinOps platform that provides visibility and insights across all platforms is necessary to prevent operating in the dark.
Empowering technical and finance teams with unified FinOps
Sasha’s insights highlight the importance of a unified approach to managing cloud costs. Breaking down departmental silos and encouraging collaboration between technical and financial teams help organizations optimize their cloud spend and align it with strategic business objectives. A well-designed collaborative FinOps strategy can reduce wasteful spending, improve forecasting accuracy, and drive cross-team accountability.
Explore how Ternary can help you build a more collaborative and efficient FinOps practice. Ternary’s unified FinOps platform provides seamless multi-cloud visibility, ML-powered human-tunable anomaly detection, and agentless Kubernetes monitoring, empowering FinOps teams to optimize cloud spend and drive strategic alignment.