Cloud Cost Management and FinOps Governance Checklist

This cloud cost management and FinOps governance checklist ensures alignment with FinOps Foundation FinOps Framework v2.0, AWS Well-Architected Cost Optimization Pillar, and Microsoft Azure Cost Management best practices. Designed for FinOps practitioners and cloud engineers to optimize cloud spend and maintain financial accountability.

  • Industry: Telecommunications & IT
  • Frequency: Monthly
  • Estimated Time: 30-40 minutes
  • Role: FinOps Practitioner / Cloud Financial Manager / CTO
  • Total Items: 12
  • Compliance: FinOps Foundation FinOps Framework v2.0, AWS Well-Architected Cost Optimization Pillar, Microsoft Azure FinOps Toolkit Best Practices, Google Cloud Architecture Framework - Cost Optimization, ITFM Cloud Financial Management Standards

Budgets and Anomaly Detection

Budget policy enforcement and spend anomaly monitoring.

  • Budgets set for each account/project/team with alert thresholds?
  • Cost anomaly detection active with alerts for unexpected spikes?
  • Monthly cost forecast reviewed and compared to budget?
  • Unit cost metrics tracked (cost per customer, cost per API call)?

Cost Optimization Actions

Rightsizing, Reserved Instances, and idle resource cleanup.

  • Compute rightsizing recommendations reviewed and actioned this month?
  • Reserved Instance / Savings Plan coverage above 70% for stable workloads?
  • Idle/unused resources (instances, volumes, IPs, snapshots) identified and deleted?
  • Spot/Preemptible instances used for fault-tolerant batch workloads?

Tagging and Cost Allocation

Resource tagging compliance and showback reporting.

  • Mandatory tagging policy enforced (team, environment, project, cost-center)?
  • Untagged resources below 5% of total cloud spend?
  • Monthly showback/chargeback reports distributed to all teams?
  • FinOps Review Notes and Savings Opportunities

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Why Use This Cloud Cost Management and FinOps Governance Checklist?

This cloud cost management and finops governance checklist helps telecommunications & it teams maintain compliance and operational excellence. Designed for finops practitioner / cloud financial manager / cto professionals, this checklist covers 12 critical inspection points across 3 sections. Recommended frequency: monthly.

Ensures compliance with FinOps Foundation FinOps Framework v2.0, AWS Well-Architected Cost Optimization Pillar, Microsoft Azure FinOps Toolkit Best Practices, Google Cloud Architecture Framework - Cost Optimization, ITFM Cloud Financial Management Standards. Regulatory-aligned for audit readiness and inspection documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Cloud Cost Management and FinOps Governance Checklist cover?

This checklist covers 12 inspection items across 3 sections: Budgets and Anomaly Detection, Cost Optimization Actions, Tagging and Cost Allocation. It is designed for telecommunications & it operations and compliance.

How often should this checklist be completed?

This checklist should be completed monthly. Each completion takes approximately 30-40 minutes.

Who should use this Cloud Cost Management and FinOps Governance Checklist?

This checklist is designed for FinOps Practitioner / Cloud Financial Manager / CTO professionals in the telecommunications & it industry. It can be used for self-assessments, team audits, and regulatory compliance documentation.

Can I download this checklist as a PDF?

Yes, this checklist is available as a free PDF download. You can also use it digitally in the POPProbe mobile app for real-time data capture, photo documentation, and automatic reporting.

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