Cloud FinOps, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6. Adopting FinOps

FinOps is an infinite game. By this we mean that you’re never really done at getting better at it. And you have to start somewhere.

In finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified. In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.

Simon Sinek, The Infinite Game (Penguin UK, 2020)

One of the most common questions we hear from the community of practitioners is “How do I get my executive to buy in to the practice?” and, then, “How do I get the organization to adopt the practice across the broad swath of personas critical to its success?”

This chapter works through common approaches to gaining proper organizational support from both the technical and financial leadership of the company. Without that, nascent FinOps practices often get stuck in a reactive midstage maturity battling other priorities in the organization. The chapter also looks at the processes of the FinOps Driver, the person who recognizes the need for the practice and champions it internally.

Figure 6-1 outlines key personas to inform and milestones to accomplish as you help build the practice and culture at your organization.

Figure 6-1. The FinOps Adoption Roadmap, original source Mike Eisenstein and ...