Managing IT costs has always been challenging and the FinOps movement is working to tackle this problem. Analysts Jean Atelsek and Melanie Posey return to the podcast to discuss their research and what they saw at the FinOps X conference with host Eric Hanselman. Cost angst has been exacerbated by the move to cloud. The shift from capital expense to operational expense has been a complicated transition for many. The infrastructure spending growth that being driven by AI initiatives has only just begun, but is already concerning. As cloud costs have become material expenses, more focus has been put on managing them. There are a host of startups that are looking to provide tools and cloud providers all have some form of cost management tooling.

The shift to virtualization opened the door to optimization, but was one that only few walked through. Efforts at charge-back and show-back accounting created better visibility, but FinOps is looking to take things a step further by identifying costs early in the development cycle. Putting the vast quantities of operational data that cloud throws off to work requires a new focus. It's another area where AI can help businesses work their way out of the looming costs that AI applications create. It requires bringing together lines of business, development teams and IT operations, but the benefits could be significant.

More S&P Global Content:

• Webinar: AI Has Swallowed the Tech Industry: Indigestion to Follow?
• Cloud Shifts podcast

For S&P Global Subscribers:

• FinOps Foundation showcases Scopes initiatives, user deployment experiences at FinOps X Day
• FinOps adoption expands as generative AI amplifies public cloud cost challenges – Highlights from VotE: Cloud, Hosting & Managed Services and Cloud Native
• FinOps Market Monitor & Forecast

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guests: Jean Atelsek, Melanie Posey,
• Producer/Editor: Adam Kovalsky
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith