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Did you know as per a survey by Everest Group a staggering 67% of organizations worldwide are grappling with cloud costs that exceed their expectations? Moreover, 82% of these organizations are inefficiently using their cloud resources, with at least 10% of these volumes going down the drain. That’s billions of dollars going down the drain due to inadequate cloud cost optimization practices.
This problem is exacerbated by the complexity of managing hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures, as well as a noticeable gap in FinOps expertise, leading to a surge in demand for Cloud FinOps Vendor Partners.
Tapping into this demand, the landscape of FinOps vendors has evolved significantly, offering a wide array of solutions. These range from niche tools that focus on a few specific cloud services, to end-to-end cloud cost optimization platforms and FinOps consulting, that take care of your entire cloud infrastructure.
Let's explore the diverse range of vendor options and help you identify the best fit for your business needs.
A Broad Classification
Cloud FinOps service providers can be classified broadly into five categories, based on the type of services provided and their level of assistance. These categories also impact different phases of the FinOps lifecycle.
Resellers
Cloud Resellers, wielding the power of their industry expertise and strategic partnerships with major cloud providers offer organizations a compelling path to reduced cloud costs. At the core of the advantage offered by resellers is their knack for harnessing economies of scale, enabling them to secure bulk purchase discounts from major cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP, resulting in considerable cost savings for their clients, especially those with high cloud consumption.
Unlike the standard pay-as-you-go models, resellers provide flexible payment options that can be customized to fit an organization's financial schedule, including subscriptions, upfront commitments, or tailored invoicing, enhancing budget compatibility.
In addition, Resellers might also offer value-added services like expertise in cloud billing management, FinOps consulting, cloud migration support, and round-the-clock technical help.
RI/SP Management Providers
Reserved Instances (RIs) and Savings Plans (SPs) stand as powerful tools for cloud cost optimization, yet their complexity demands expert navigation. RI/SP management providers, armed with automation and deep domain knowledge, step in as allies, offering strategic deployment of RIs and SPs tailored to specific usage patterns and future demands. These providers leverage automation for continuous monitoring, proactive renewal management, and rightsizing, significantly enhancing the efficacy and precision of cloud FinOps strategies while reducing the burden of manual oversight and minimizing human error.
In an innovative leap forward, many RI/SP management providers now incorporate AI-based solutions, with some harnessing the capabilities of Generative AI, to elevate their service offerings. These advanced technologies enable even more refined analysis and optimization, predicting usage trends and identifying savings opportunities with unprecedented accuracy.
RI/SP Management providers could help you secure the most cost-effective cloud infrastructure configurations and maximum cloud cost savings.
Consulting and Managed Service Providers
Consulting and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are indispensable allies for businesses aiming to navigate the complexities of cloud FinOps. These experts possess a wealth of knowledge and tools, ensuring that organizations can fully leverage their cloud investments for maximum efficiency and cost savings. One notable service that some MSPs offer is the "Well-Architected Review," a comprehensive assessment that meticulously evaluates a company's cloud infrastructure against best practices in areas such as operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimization. Most of these providers also possess credentials like the AWS Premier Partnership, Azure Solution Partnership, etc.
Key offerings by Consulting and MSPs include:
- Resource Optimization: Continuous monitoring and fine-tuning of cloud resources to match your operational requirements perfectly.
- Cost Management: Implementation of strategies and tools designed to keep cloud expenses within budget, identifying savings and avoiding wasteful spending.
- Security Enhancement: Proactive FinOps consulting that shores up cloud defenses, identifying and mitigating potential security threats.
- Performance Optimization: Adjustments and recommendations to ensure your cloud infrastructure performs optimally, supporting a seamless user experience.
Visibility and Recommendations Providers
Achieving clarity on resource utilization and spending is akin to finding your way through a fog. Visibility and recommendations providers act as navigators, offering critical insights into your cloud expenditure, resource allocation, chargebacks, and tagging practices. Their expertise unveils hidden inefficiencies and provides actionable advice to streamline cloud FinOps operations and reduce waste.
Key benefits these providers offer include:
- Granular Spend Analysis: Detailed breakdowns of spending by resource, department, or project to identify overspending or underutilization.
- Allocation Transparency: Insights into how resources are distributed, ensuring equitable cost sharing.
- Chargeback Clarity: Simplified understanding of cost attribution across departments or projects.
- Rightsizing Recommendations: Advice on adjusting resource configurations for optimal cost-efficiency.
- Tagging Strategies: Guidance and FinOps consulting on effective tagging for improved cost tracking and optimization.
Working with Cloud Cost Visibility solutions not only cuts down on unnecessary expenditures but also enhances informed decision-making with a comprehensive understanding of cloud spending. Furthermore, by ensuring that resources are accurately aligned with organizational needs, these services help optimize the return on investment, guaranteeing that every dollar spent is maximized for the greatest possible impact.
End-to-End FinOps Service Providers
These providers stand out as one-stop solution providers offering a comprehensive array of services that cover FinOps consulting, Reserved Instance (RI)/Savings Plan (SP) management, and extensive visibility into your cloud spending. Their holistic strategy transcends the limitations of piecemeal solutions, positioning them as a centralized beacon for cloud cost optimization, embodying several critical benefits:
- Unified Strategy: They eliminate the complexity of dealing with multiple vendors, offering a single, streamlined platform for all cloud FinOps activities, simplifying operations, and enhancing efficiency.
- Comprehensive Insights: With a broad analysis of your cloud expenditure and usage, these providers uncover in-depth optimization opportunities across your entire cloud landscape.
- Effortless Integration: Their solutions integrate smoothly with your existing cloud setups, ensuring that enhancements are implemented without disrupting your operations.
These End-to-end FinOps services include:
- Consulting and Strategy: Providing tailored FinOps Consulting services to craft and deploy a Cloud FinOps strategy that aligns with your business objectives and cloud infrastructure. MSP services contribute by offering strategic guidance on overall cloud management and integration with Cloud FinOps strategies.
- RI/SP Optimization: Leveraging expertise in the adept management of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans, ensuring optimal utilization to maximize cost savings.
- Visibility and Analytics: Offering sophisticated reporting tools that furnish detailed insights into cloud spending patterns, resource allocation, and optimization opportunities.
- Automated Optimization: Harnessing the power of automation for tasks such as rightsizing, scaling, and identifying cost anomalies. This not only minimizes manual oversight but also reduces the risk of human error.
An End-to-End FinOps Service Provider can transform your cloud FinOps journey from a fragmented struggle into a unified and streamlined campaign.
Impact on the FinOps Lifecycle
Optimizing cloud costs isn't a one-time feat; it's a continuous journey through the cloud FinOps lifecycle. Different service providers specialize in distinct stages, empowering you to navigate this journey with expert guidance. The below image summarizes their impact on the different phases of the lifecycle.
An end-to-end provider could help you set sail along this journey, by streamlining the entire FinOps lifecycle. They bridge the gap between these different phases with a comprehensive cloud cost optimization solution, making FinOps almost a one-click process.
With an End-to-End FinOps provider by your side, you achieve holistic Cloud FinOps consulting support, comprehensive visibility, and resource optimization.
(Read this blog to learn more interesting insights and statistics on Cloud FinOps)
CloudKeeper: One-Stop Solution for Everything FinOps
Now you know why an End-to-End Cloud FinOps Provider would be the right choice to go about, for all types of cloud cost optimization needs. Among the wide range of service providers in the landscape, there are only a handful that offer comprehensive FinOps services and CloudKeeper stands tall among them.
With over 12 years of cloud expertise, CloudKeeper is a distinguished player in the FinOps landscape, holding the status of an AWS Premier Partner, Microsoft Azure Solutions Partner, and Premier Partner with the FinOps Foundation. This rich experience and strategic partnerships underscore CloudKeeper's position as a leading provider of cloud cost optimization.
The solutions offered by CloudKeeper include -
CloudKeeper AZ: CloudKeeper AZ assures guaranteed savings on cloud costs, implementing end-to-end application of rate, usage, and process optimization. This solution stands out for its commitment to flexibility, as it requires no commitment or lock-in from businesses. CloudKeeper AZ efficiently manages all FinOps stages, offering savings, service, and software solutions, while providing free access to the powerful CloudKeeper Lens for enhanced visibility as well as FinOps consulting.
CloudKeeper Auto: Targeted at managing Reserved Instances (RI), CloudKeeper Auto introduces automation to the buying and selling process based on infrastructure needs, all at no extra cost. This solution extends beyond automation, offering free access to CloudKeeper Lens for valuable insights. CloudKeeper Auto also provides FinOps consulting and support to maximize savings on compute and RDS instances.
CloudKeeper EDP+: CloudKeeper EDP+ emerges as a cost-effective solution, offering higher discount rates compared to EDP rates at lower annual spending. This partner-led enterprise support comes at a lower cost while allowing organizations to retain 100% of achieved savings. EDP+ clients also benefit from free access to CloudKeeper Lens.
CloudKeeper Lens: CloudKeeper Lens provides invaluable insights into AWS costs and optimization recommendations. With a granular view of cloud spending patterns and resource-level information, it identifies cost variations through a heatmap. CloudKeeper Lens facilitates detailed analysis with drill-down capabilities, ensuring transparency and control over cloud expenses.
Additionally, CloudKeeper offers FinOps consulting services, guiding businesses on cost-optimization strategy, anomaly detection, tagging, chargeback strategies, and assistance in establishing FinOps KPIs and unit economics. CloudKeeper also conducts Well-Architected reviews, benchmarking against best practices and design principles set by the cloud providers themselves.
Did we mention the pricing? Well, it might sound too good to be true, but almost all solutions offered by CloudKeeper require zero costs, zero efforts, and zero commitments from your side. CloudKeeper Auto is the only exception and there too, the solution follows results-based pricing, priced at only a small percentage of the savings achieved via the solution. It’s a win-win situation.
In short, with just a simple onboarding process, CloudKeeper helps you with rate, usage, and process optimization, effortlessly.
Conclusion
In the complex realm of cloud cost optimization, the journey may seem daunting, but with diverse cloud FinOps solution providers ready to guide you, it becomes a manageable expedition. These providers specialize in distinct phases, offering crucial support throughout the process.
Cloud cost visibility providers act as beacons, shedding light on spending patterns for informed decision-making. FinOps consulting and managed service providers play the role of seasoned navigators, optimizing your cloud environment for peak efficiency. Resellers and RI/SP management providers ensure smooth operations and cost-effective resource utilization. The choice of the right partner depends on your specific needs and your position in the FinOps lifecycle.
Amidst these providers, CloudKeeper emerges as a standout with support over each and every step of your FinOps Journey, with guaranteed savings, effortless optimization, and zero cost or commitments.
Embark confidently with a reliable companion, witnessing a reduction in your cloud costs and the soaring heights of your return on investment.
We know, partnering with a FinOps vendor requires much more understanding of the market and in-depth analysis. Let us help you break down the FinOps Vendor Market with a comprehensive analysis done by Everest Group. Download the free whitepaper.
Would you like to know more about CloudKeeper? Book a completely free consultation with one of our experts.
