There’s no doubt about it: The cloud cost landscape changes quickly. It seems like every month brings new updates from the cloud providers and several new resources you can use to master FinOps within your organization.
Here are the top cloud cost news headlines you may have missed from February 2025:
- Amazon built a custom solution to view its own costs with AWS tools, then followed up with an interesting case study.
- We have the information for FinOps X 2025 — it’s time to start booking your tickets!
- Azure published a handful of cost management updates, including a blog series on learning the FOCUS method for FinOps.
- Some Google Cloud employees will be laid off shortly as part of a “reorganization” plan to focus more on AI.
Read on for the details.
AWS published a case study detailing how Amazon used AWS Billing Conductor to view its own AWS costs
Curious to get a peek behind the scenes at how Amazon (as a customer of AWS) uses AWS billing solutions? Now’s your chance.
In mid-February, AWS released a case study explaining how Amazon used AWS Billing Conductor to build a custom solution that allows them to view personalized costs within AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR). The article provides an interesting glimpse into Amazon’s chosen workaround for getting Cost Explorer and CUR to apply custom rates, which they do not do by default.
If this is a problem you’ve run into in the past — or you’re simply curious about how Amazon uses AWS products internally, the case study is worth a read.
FinOps X 2025 is just three months away — time to start planning your trip!
The FinOps Foundation just added FinOps X 2025 to its schedule of upcoming events! The conference is scheduled for June 2-5 in San Diego, California. If you’re planning to attend, make sure to register here before seats fill up.
Some of the topics on the itinerary include:
- Using the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification (FOCUS) as a standardized format for cloud bills that all major cloud providers can agree upon
- Using FinOps to plan, allocate, and manage AI costs
- Best practices for making cloud cost optimization a top priority in your company
- Building strategies for cloud sustainability
This is just a teaser for what you can expect during the full event. Check out the day-by-day schedule and start picking out the panels you’d like to attend here.
Azure posted several cost management updates — including a FOCUS learning course — that you’ll want to brush up on
If you’re an Azure customer, give this cost management update article a look. Microsoft has made a few changes based on user feedback, which is always nice to see.
The several topics covered include but are not limited to new cost allocation fields for enterprise customers and some tips to save money with Microsoft Cloud. You’ll also see a section devoted to adopting FOCUS as part of your FinOps strategy. We’re starting to see this acronym popping up on all the major cloud platforms, touted as “the new language of FinOps” that unites the previously disparate cloud cost data from individual providers.
If you haven’t started to use FOCUS yet, you might be interested to learn that Microsoft has launched a Learning FOCUS blog series to give you a crash course on everything you need to know. These Learning FOCUS articles appear on Microsoft’s FinOps blog, and you can start right here with the introduction post.
Google announced some layoffs in its cloud division
As part of “internal reorganizations,” Google plans to lay off employees in a few different departments, including within its cloud organizations.
We’re not entirely sure yet how this could affect GCP’s services or your experience with using the provider, but it’s something to keep an eye on as the company makes major changes.
CNBC reported that Google is trying to cut costs to free up resources to spend on AI infrastructure for 2025 and beyond. This could signal a shift in the corporation’s priorities, as Google evidently had more demand for AI services than it could keep up with last year.
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