7-Steps FinOps Strategy
Cost Optimization System for builders, FinOps professionals, or anyone who just wants a clear reference to make sure they’re not overspending.
It’s a straightforward, AWS-native guide for anyone who loves building but wants to do it a bit smarter.
🔍 Step 1: Gain Full Visibility — Know Where Your Money Goes
You cannot optimize what you cannot measure. Start by getting visibility across accounts, services, regions, and teams.
Enable these first:
AWS Cost Explorer — for visualization and trends.
AWS Cost & Usage Reports (CUR) — for detailed cost data.
AWS Billing Conductor — for custom pricing or internal chargebacks.
AWS Cost Anomaly Detection — get automatic alerts for spend spikes via Slack or Teams.
Tag Policies + Cost Categories in AWS Organizations — maintain consistent cost attribution.
Amazon Athena + CUR — query your billing data with SQL for analysis and automation.
aws ce get-cost-and-usage \
--time-period Start=2025-10-01,End=2025-11-01 \
--granularity MONTHLY \
--metrics "UnblendedCost" \
--group-by Type=TAG,Key=ProjectPro Tip: Use AI-powered queries in Cost Explorer: “Which service increased my bill 20% this month?” → instant answer.
🌱 Sustainability Bonus
The AWS Carbon Footprint Tool now integrates with Cost Explorer. Optimize for cost + carbon — increasingly required for compliance.
✅ Best Practices
Use AWS Organizations with consolidated billing
Give teams visibility, keep central oversight
Build weekly cost dashboards
🧹 Step 2: Eliminate Waste — Kill the Idle & Under-Utilized
Now that you see it — clear the low-hanging fruit.
🔍 Common Waste
EC2 < 10% CPU
Dev box running 24×7
Unattached EBS
$0.10/GB silently
Idle Load Balancers
No requests
Orphaned Elastic IPs
$3.60/month each
Endless Snapshots
5–10% of waste
# List running EC2 instances
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters "Name=instance-state-name,Values=running" \
--query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId,State.Name,InstanceType,Tags]" \
--output table
# List unattached EBS volumes
aws ec2 describe-volumes \
--filters Name=status,Values=available \
--query "Volumes[*].[VolumeId,Size,AvailabilityZone]" \
--output table🛠 Automation-First Tools
Compute Optimizer → “Idle Resource” dashboard
Trusted Advisor → Cost checks
AWS Backup Audit Manager → Find orphaned snapshots
🔄 Action Loop
Identify idle resources
Ask owner: “Still need this?”
Delete or stop
Automate (see Step 6)
⚖️ Step 3: Rightsize Effectively — Match Resource to Demand
You removed waste. Now match size to real usage.
🧰 Key AWS Tools
AWS Compute Optimizer
EC2, ASG, Lambda, EBS
Trusted Advisor
Low-utilization, idle ALB, EIPs
aws compute-optimizer get-ec2-instance-recommendations \
--instance-arns arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:instance/i-0abcdef1234567890🎯 Strategy
Downsize low-utilization instances
Migrate older → newer (M4 → M6i / Graviton)
Use T-family for bursty workloads
Check memory, network, I/O — not just CPU
Result: 10–30% compute savings, no performance loss
💸 Step 4: Pricing Model Optimization — Use Savings Plans, RIs, Spot
You have the right size. Now get the right price.
💰 Pricing Options
On-Demand
0%
Flexible, unpredictable
Savings Plans / RIs
Up to 72%
Steady workloads
Spot Instances
Up to 90%
Batch, test, stateless
# View Savings Plan recommendations
aws ce get-savings-plans-purchase-recommendation \
--savings-plans-type COMPUTE_SP \
--term-in-years ONE_YEAR \
--payment-option NO_UPFRONT \
--lookback-period-in-days 30Pro Tip: Savings Plans for steady + Spot for bursts = max flexibility
📊 Best Practices
Use ML forecasting in Cost Explorer
Monitor utilization — underuse = waste
Share commitments across accounts
Architect for interruption on Spot
🗄️ Step 5: Storage & Data Transfer Efficiency — One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Storage and transfer creep up silently.
🗄 Storage Optimization
Use S3 IA / Intelligent-Tiering / Glacier
Lifecycle rules
Delete unattached EBS
CLI + Optimizer
Switch gp2 → gp3
Decouple IOPS
EFS Infrequent Access
Auto-tier
📡 Data Transfer Optimization
Same AZ placement
Free intra-AZ
CloudFront
↓60% egress
VPC Endpoints
Avoid NAT
Network Manager
Visualize paths
Example: Global asset → CloudFront → 60% less egress, faster users
🤖 Step 6: Automate & Enforce — Governance, Scheduling, Cleanup
One-time fixes fade. Automation makes savings stick.
🔧 Key Actions
Detect non-compliant
AWS Config, Lambda
Auto-shutdown on budget
AWS Budgets Actions
Stop dev/test nightly
EventBridge, Instance Scheduler
Enforce at deploy
IaC (Terraform/CDK)
# Lambda: Stop Dev instances nightly
import boto3
ec2 = boto3.client('ec2', region_name='us-east-1')
def lambda_handler(event, context):
instances = ec2.describe_instances(
Filters=[{'Name':'tag:Environment','Values':['Dev']}]
)
instance_ids = [i['InstanceId'] for r in instances['Reservations'] for i in r['Instances']]
if instance_ids:
ec2.stop_instances(InstanceIds=instance_ids)
print(f"Stopped: {instance_ids}")Pro Tip: Use Control Tower + SCPs to enforce tagging and budgets at scale
🧠 Step 7: Build a Cost-Aware Culture — Processes, Accountability, Learning
Cost optimization isn’t a tool. It’s a culture.
🏗 Culture Elements
Cost in design reviews
Prevent waste early
Showback/Chargeback
Teams own spend
Monthly FinOps meetings
Review KPIs, anomalies
Cost per unit
Efficiency over absolute
Stay updated
New types, classes, pricing
🎯 Closing Strategy: Cost Friday
Every month: 30 mins Cloud team + product + finance Review graphs → spot spikes → assign actions
First month: drastic savings Six months: team thinks cost-first
Final Thoughts
AWS won’t tell you “You’re paying too much.” They’ll just keep charging.
It’s on you to build:
Visibility
Discipline
The right pricing models
Efficient architecture
Automation & governance
A cost-aware organization
🚀 Start Today
Open Cost Explorer
Tag your resources
Find one idle instance
Shut it down
That’s Step 1. Your future self and your CFO will thank you.
📚 References
All recommended AWS-native tools.
1. Visibility & Reporting
2. Waste Detection & Cleanup
3. Rightsizing & Efficiency
4. Pricing Model Optimization
5. Storage & Data Transfer
6. Automation & Governance
7. Culture & Sustainability
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