Spring is unfolding, and your event calendar is about to be overflowing with new FinOps get-togethers. Plus, we’ve got some cloud cost announcements from a couple of the major providers that could affect your bill and your FinOps strategy.
Here’s the top news from March 2025 and upcoming events you won’t want to miss:
- It’s time to book your tickets for Google Cloud Next if you haven’t already.
- Join CloudZero for our FinOps and Sushi event on April 8th.
- Check out the latest cloud cost updates from Amazon and Microsoft.
Cloud Cost News And Event Announcements From March 2025
Google Cloud Next kicks off on April 9th
Google is pitching its Google Cloud Next 2025 summit as “the next big thing” for cloud users. It’s open to the public April 9–11 — as long as you register here first — but there will be a pre-event meeting on the 8th for select attendees.
If you’re immersed in the Google Cloud environment — and especially if you’ve started creating AI agents using Google’s ecosystem — you’ll want to join this conference. Google plans to share its latest innovations and host demos and workshops related to developing agents, among other topics.
Before you go, you can brush up on our best advice for running low-cost AI in the cloud and keeping AI agents profitable. That background info, combined with the exciting tips you’ll learn at Google Cloud Next, will prepare you to build profitable agents despite astronomical AI costs.
CloudZero’s FinOps and Sushi event happens on April 8th
If you’re skipping the Google Cloud Next pre-show, join us instead for an evening of delicious sushi and an unbeatable FinOps networking opportunity. CloudZero’s Founder and CTO Erik Peterson will be there to answer your questions, and you’ll also have the opportunity to dine and converse with plenty of like-minded peers.
You can view all the details and request to join this event here. Be prepared to meet us by the hotel entrance prior to the event; we’ve scheduled a private car to bring you to the restaurant for your convenience.
We hope to see you there!
AWS released a few cost tracking updates for specific tools
While there were no major overhauls to the AWS ecosystem in March, we did notice a handful of minor updates that could impact the way you monitor costs within certain AWS tools. For instance:
- The Amazon Bedrock Custom Model Import feature now supports more comprehensive cost transparency.
- Sellers of Machine Learning tools on AWS Marketplace will enjoy some enhanced functionality and new custom pricing abilities.
- Payment Profiles now offers preferred payment methods and currency selection.
- Amazon S3 object tagging prices have been reduced by 35%.
Microsoft also announced a few cost management changes for Azure users
Microsoft regularly publishes announcements of feature updates that can help users improve their cost transparency and control.
Here are the March headlines that stand out to us:
- The Connector feature, which combines data from Azure and AWS if you track it within Microsoft’s Cost Management platform, has been discontinued. You no longer have access to current or historical AWS cost and usage data that was stored within Microsoft’s system.
- Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) received some optimizations that could help you reduce costs if you take advantage of the new autoscaling and cost visibility features.
- Azure OpenAI Service reservation plans are a bit more flexible now, as long as you feel confident enough in your upcoming usage to commit to a discount plan.
We recommend reading Microsoft’s full breakdown if you’re an Azure user.
Make The Most Out Of Cloud Provider Updates With A Comprehensive Cost Management Platform
What will you do now that you can’t view or manage AWS data from within your Microsoft dashboard? Do you know where your usage will be most stable in the future, so you can score a significant discount with a savings plan? And what FinOps strategy do you plan to implement after returning from your next networking event?
If you’re not sure of the answer to any of the above questions, that’s a sign you need to take control of your cloud cost management with a platform like CloudZero.
CloudZero gives you complete transparency into your cost data, regardless of your cloud provider and any other third-party services you use. You’ll have a detailed prediction of your future usage based on hard data from the past, so you never have to gamble on whether reserving a savings plan is worthwhile. And you’ll also get insights from our industry-leading cloud cost experts — as well as automated recommendations — into how you can grow and fine-tune your FinOps strategy with the cost data that’s now readily available at your fingertips.
Why not make 2025 the year you widen your margins once and for all?
with CloudZero to see what you can accomplish when you have access to all the deep data you could possibly want.
The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
