FinOps GenAI
GenAI FinOps vs Cloud FinOps
The world of AI costs is changing how companies manage their money. Let's look at how managing AI costs compares to managing regular cloud computing costs.
Some things are the same: pay-as-you-go pricing, discounts for long-term commitments, choosing the right tools, using tagging for tracking, and setting alerts for unusual spending…
Buy AI brings new money challenges:
AI responses can be different each time, making costs hard to predict.
There are strict limits on how much AI you can use at once.
The way AI costs are calculated (using "tokens") is not as clear as cloud computing.
Small changes in how you ask AI questions can lead to big changes in cost.
AI technology changes very fast, so prices and options keep shifting.
When AI makes mistakes, it can still cost you money.
If one AI service goes down, switching to another one isn't simple.
Companies need to think differently about managing AI costs compared to regular cloud computing. The field is new and changing quickly - prices dropped 80% in just one year.
The key is to use what we know about managing cloud costs while adding new ways to handle AI's special challenges.
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Want to turn cloud insights into real savings? Meet Cloud Efficiency Posture Management (CEPM), the proactive way to integrate efficiency directly into your engineering workflows.
Visit our booth at FinOps X in San Diego (June 3–4) to see CEPM live, talk to our experts, and learn how to optimize your cloud performance. Grab a lottery-style scratch-off card with great prizes, and join our Wastebusters: Airborne after-party on June 3!
The AWS Pricing Calculator is now available in the AWS console, helping users create accurate cost estimates. It offers two types of estimates: one for specific tasks and another for the entire AWS bill.
Users can use past data or create new scenarios to improve their estimates. The calculator includes three pricing views, including one that considers discounts and commitments, to help users understand how these affect total costs.
Users can also export estimates in CSV and JSON formats, which include detailed cost information. This updated calculator is available in all AWS commercial regions, except China.
To get started with new Pricing Calculator, visit the AWS Billing and Cost Management Console
FINOPS EVENTS
Expert MasterClass: FinOps Tagging & Governance
Learn how to create tagging & naming conventions for your AWS, GCP & Azure. Get control of your company Cloud resources and reduce your bill.
See you the 17th June - 6:00 PM CEST
GCP
Why is Your Google Cloud SQL Bill so High?
Have you noticed your Google Cloud SQL bill getting bigger than expected? A developer found his 6 GB database was using 2 TB of storage. Let's see why this happens.
The key is something called Point-in-time recovery. This feature keeps track of every change made to your database. Think of it like a detailed diary of everything that happens to your data. The cost impact:
Small databases with few changes: minimal extra cost
Busy databases with lots of changes: can get very expensive
Example: A 13 GB database ended up using 2.3 TB of storage space
How to fix high costs:
Keep Point-in-time recovery, but reduce storage time to 1 day
Create a new database sized for your actual needs
Move your data to the new, properly sized database
AWS
Save on AWS Static IPs: Use Global Accelerator
AWS offers two main options for static IP addresses, but the price difference is huge.
Global Accelerator is the budget-friendly choice at $18 per month. It works great when you need:
Low-latency connections across multiple regions
Automatic failover if one region stops working
Support for both IPv4 and IPv6
Option to use your own IP addresses
CloudFront anycast IPs cost $3,000 per month. This expensive option makes sense only if you need special arrangements with phone companies for data charges or specific domain name setups without CNAME records
For most companies, Global Accelerator provides everything needed at a much lower cost. You'll also pay a small fee for data transfer, which varies by region ($0.015 to $0.091 per GB).
A smart tip from the comments: If you just need basic static IPs, consider using Network Load Balancer with Elastic IP, which costs around $39 per month.
📺️ PODCAST
AI for FinOps vs FinOps for AI with Ido Kotler
We talk with Ido Kotler (CPO of Pelanor) about how artificial intelligence is radically transforming FinOps. From smart alerts to autonomous agents, discover why the future of FinOps depends on AI more than you might think.
🎖️ MENTION OF HONOUR
The Essential Cost Optimization Skill for DevOps Engineers
Cost management in cloud computing is becoming a vital skill for DevOps engineers, as shared by Svetlozar Kondakov in his personal experience.
He points out that many DevOps engineers focus only on technical aspects like automation and deployments, missing the financial impact of their work.
A key moment in his career came when a company's financial officer contacted him about a 40% increase in AWS costs. The cause? An unused computer cluster that was still running and charging money. Here's what DevOps engineers can do to manage costs better:
Study the infrastructure costs since they control it
Set up automatic ways to save money
Show business leaders how technical choices affect spending
Learn cloud cost management to stay valuable in their career
Some practical steps to start with:
Look at AWS Cost Explorer to see spending patterns
Use AWS Trusted Advisor to find unused resources
Label all resources properly
Set up automatic cleanup of unused items
Use cost-saving options like Reserved Instances
In one project, Kondakov helped reduce a client's AWS bill by 35% by making smarter technical choices, not by cutting services.
DevOps engineers who understand both technical and financial aspects of cloud computing bring more value to their organizations.
FINOPS
FinOps Weekly Extra
A major healthcare system on the west coast faced a big problem: they couldn't track their technology costs well across their computer systems, both in their buildings and in the cloud.
Efficient PDF Rendering: 1M in 10 Minutes, Cost-Optimized
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That’s all for this week. See you next Sunday!
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