Microsoft joined the FinOps Foundation as a premier member in February 2023 with an aim to:

Define specifications and evolve best practices

Align their collective guidance

Improve their products and services

Offer advanced training and certification programs

Engage with the community

Microsoft has planned to work around and invest in the pointers listed above. Let us see, what are current developments of Microsoft Azure services in the area of FinOps.

Nurturing Growth and Learning for FinOps Practitioners

For many years, Microsoft has been committed to helping people effectively manage and reduce their expenses. Now, with Microsoft's focus on FinOps, this year becomes crucial for practitioners who handle costs in Microsoft Azure.

To support this initiative, Microsoft has launched a dedicated FinOps solutions page. This page serves as a centralized hub for all the resources currently available and those planned for the future. Whether you are new to FinOps or already have experience, this page will connect you with Microsoft's solutions that can empower your organization to adopt FinOps best practices more efficiently.

The FinOps solutions page offers a helpful resource called the "FinOps with Azure e-book." This e-book is 20 pages long and provides valuable information for those who are new to FinOps in Azure. It explains the principles of FinOps and showcases Microsoft's solutions that can assist you in your cloud journey and enable your organization to get the most out of the cloud.

Accelerating Answers for FinOps Practitioners

There have been significant improvements in the performance of the Cost analysis feature. The time it takes to load, and display cost information has become much faster in recent months. Additionally, there are more improvements planned in Microsoft Azure services for the future.

While many users are already familiar with customizable charts in Cost analysis, there is a newer feature called smart views that not everyone may be aware of. Smart views in Cost analysis are like helpful assistants that provide useful information about your costs. They can detect anomalies and offer more flexible options for downloading data. With smart views, you can also work on multiple cost perspectives at the same time, allowing you to explore different angles of your costs simultaneously.

Scaling FinOps Practitioners' Efforts

For most users, the built-in Cost Management features in the Azure Portal are sufficient for their basic needs. However, there are situations where additional capabilities are necessary. You might want to automate the process of onboarding and setup, or you might require advanced reporting that combines business data with cost information. In some cases, you may have a more intricate cost allocation or chargeback strategy that necessitates integration with other systems.

No matter what situation you're in, the FinOps toolkit open-source project aims to provide solutions that automate and enhance the native capabilities of the cloud to meet the common requirements of the FinOps community. This toolkit is a collaborative project driven by a global community of contributors, including insights from Microsoft architects and engineers working in the field. It helps you get started quickly by offering:

• Starter kits that assist you in initiating cost management and optimization.

• Automation scripts that simplify the configuration and management of costs on a larger scale.

• Advanced solutions that facilitate the development of customized solutions to suit your specific needs.

Accounting is the process of recording, summarizing, analyzing, and reporting financial transactions of a business or individual. It involves preparing financial statements, such as balance sheets and income statements, to provide an accurate picture of an entity's financial health.

Bookkeeping, on the other hand, is a subset of accounting. It involves the systematic recording of daily financial transactions, including sales, purchases, receipts, and payments. Bookkeeping ensures that all financial data is accurately captured and organized, serving as the foundation for the accounting process.

For more:

Connect with GSPU