FinOps Certified FOCUS Analyst Preparation Training Course

Introduction

• Overview of FinOps
• Key principles of FinOps: Accountability, Optimization, and Transparency
• Roles and responsibilities within a FinOps team

Phases of the FinOps Lifecycle

• Inform Phase: Understanding cloud spend
• Optimize Phase: Maximizing value
• Operate Phase: Continuous operations

Introduction to Cloud Providers and Billing

• Understanding cloud billing models (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Billing structure, invoices, and chargebacks

Cloud Cost Allocation and Tagging Strategy

• Best practices for tagging and categorizing cloud resources
• Mapping cloud spend to business units

Cloud Cost Optimization

• Identifying waste: Orphaned resources, unused commitments, and right-sizing
• Implementing auto-scaling and on-demand vs. reserved instances

Reporting and Dashboards

• Tools for FinOps reporting (Power BI, Tableau, or cloud-native tools)
• Setting up dashboards for key metrics and alerts

Governance and Policies

• Creating FinOps policies for budget control
• Governance frameworks for cloud financial management

Compliance and Regulatory Considerations

• Data residency and cloud spend compliance
• Internal and external audits

Collaboration Between Finance, Engineering, and Business Units

• Aligning objectives across teams
• Communication strategies for transparency in cloud spend

Tools for FinOps Analysts

• Overview of FinOps tools: CloudHealth, Cloudability, and Apptio Cloudability
• Using cloud provider tools for cost management

Case Studies and Industry Examples

• Real-world examples of FinOps success stories
• Lessons learned and best practices

Certification Exam Preparation

• Exam structure and format
• Sample questions and practice tests
• Review session and Q&A

Summary and Next Steps