Introduction

This is blog three in a series of blog posts exploring FinOps, focusing on different areas I have been thinking about. As the title suggests, this one is centred on sustainability and how it links to saving money in the cloud.

Recently, I found myself popping to the shop in a rush. A friend was coming over, and I was out of milk. Grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone, I dashed out, halfway down the street before I realised something—I had forgotten my hat. Having shaved my head recently, the missing hat was suddenly a big deal!

Now, you might be wondering, what does this have to do with cloud sustainability? Well, migrating to the cloud is a bit like going to the shop. You decide for what you need, map out your route, and if something does not go as expected, you adjust (grabbing a pint of blue milk if they are out of green). Similarly, cloud migration requires planning and adjustments, but sometimes you forget something crucial, like sustainability.

Driving Sustainability

When I check my pockets before leaving for the shop, I do it in a specific order. This habit links directly to how we should think about costs and sustainability in the cloud. For me, the first thing is always my keys—they are essential, just like security is the top priority in cloud migration. Next up is my wallet, and in cloud terms, that is your costs.

Visibility and Tracking

I now keep my hat by the door, so I do not forget it. Cloud costs and sustainability are much the same. AWS provides great tools for visibility, like Cost Explorer and the Carbon Footprint Dashboard. These allow you to see the impact of your decisions in real time—both financially and environmentally – a significant improvement from traditional data centres. I encourage everyone involved in cloud operations to get familiar with this data early and often, so sustainability becomes second nature.

At Digital Space, we use a combination of CUDOS dashboards and native AWS tools to track our costs and those of our customers. We also leverage the AWS Carbon Footprint tool to monitor the environmental impact of our resources.

How Can Digital Space Help?

Digital Space is an AWS Managed Service Provider and an AWS Well-Architected partner. As a member of the FinOps Foundation and the head of FinOps practices at Digital Space, I spend my time analysing bills, forecasting costs, and helping customers optimise their cloud spend.
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