Cost reduction – the real goal?
Cost reduction is often the primary goal, but not always the right solution. Spending cuts can slow down the development of key products and weaken competitiveness. It is therefore important to link costs to the added value they bring and to think through the implications of savings in the long term.
Different interests of the teams
Finance teams are usually focused on reducing spend, while developers want to deploy new features as quickly as possible, and product owners are mainly interested in adding value to customers. These different goals can lead to tensions between teams. The key is for everyone to be clear on the costs and benefits that each resource brings and work together to achieve the best value without unnecessary spend.
FinOps is the answer
It is important to identify where there is disagreement and to allow all parties to share their views openly. FinOps offers an approach to improve understanding of costs and link them to added value. When FinOps doesn’t work properly, it can slow cloud adoption and innovation implementation, which can lead to increased costs without corresponding benefits.
The key role of reports
The data presented in the actual reports is crucial for good decision-making. It is important that reports are displayed in real time, not just in quarterly or annual figures. It is also essential to ensure that all participants understand the reports in the same way and to create a common glossary of terms. This will improve understanding and trust between teams, leading to more effective decision-making.
Preparing for change
Changing attitudes and corporate culture is often challenging, especially in older organisations with traditional operating models. Big one-off changes are not ideal. It is better to introduce small steps with visible results that are understandable and acceptable.
When migrating to the cloud, it’s important to start addressing expenses before the actual migration. Sometimes strict deadlines are set to speed up the process, but often having enough time to prepare will backfire. If an organization takes its existing on-premise model to the cloud without transforming, high invoices can occur and savings go untapped. That’s why it’s important to take the time to transform to a cloud operating model.
JHow Ness can help
For many organisations, mastering all aspects of the cloud can be difficult, which can lead to deadlock. These and similar cases can be addressed by, for example, turning to an IT vendor. At Ness, we have experts in the cloud and can help determine the steps to find a balance between cost and value. We offer clients an analysis of the current situation, setting up implementation plans and designing long-term strategies. We work with cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure and AWS and have experts in both platforms.
Whether you’re just planning your migration to the cloud or are already facing its challenges, we’re happy to help you with your projects.
The author of the article is a specialist in Data & Analytics Marie Stuchlíková from Ness Czech.