FinOps maturity

Organizations can implement FinOps by following a "Crawl, Walk, Run" path. Start small. Then, as the demand for business value grows, gradually expand the scale, scope, and complexity of FinOps to improve the maturity of functional activities. Acting on a small scale allows the FinOps team to quickly assess the results of their actions. They can then use these insights to decide whether to expand, accelerate, or refine their FinOps efforts.

When assessing your organization's FinOps capabilities or domains, use maturity levels to determine the current operational phase. This helps identify which domains can transition from "Crawl" to "Walk" or from "Walk" to "Run". These terms provide general guidance. An organization's goal should not be to simply reach the "Run" state of maturity in every capability domain.

One of the principles of FinOps is to drive decisions with business value. If an organization's anomaly management capability is already in the "Walk" phase and effectively detects cost spikes, the organization should invest its time in other FinOps capabilities that offer more direct benefits. Focusing too much on improving a capability that already meets success criteria might increase its maturity from "Crawl" to "Walk", or from "Walk" to "Run". However, this may not result in a corresponding improvement in success metrics.

In other words, having a capability in the "Walk" phase is not necessarily a bad thing. FinOps practitioners should focus more on the benefits that FinOps capabilities provide, rather than simply trying to advance every capability to the "Run" level. Prioritize strengthening the capabilities that create the most business value for the organization.

Different capabilities and functional activities can be at different maturity levels. The FinOps Foundation provides the FinOps Assessment Guide and the following assessment criteria to help you identify your operational phase and promote effective communication and understanding.

Crawl

Phase characteristics

• Lacks the necessary reports and tools

• Assessments reflect only the benefits of capability improvements

• Sets basic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success

• Establishes basic processes and policies for the capability

• The capability is understood by key teams in the organization, but not all teams follow it

• Planning focuses on "low-hanging fruit"

Example goals or KPIs (Source: FinOps Community data.finops.org)

• Cost allocation rate of at least 50%

• Resource-based committed use discount coverage of about 60%

• Variance between predicted and actual spending is 20%

Walk

Phase characteristics

• The capability is understood and followed throughout the organization

• Difficult edge cases are identified, but their resolution is deferred

• Automation or processes meet most of the needs for the capability

• Most edge cases that threaten the organization's financial health are identified, and the effort required to resolve them is assessed

• Sets medium- to high-level goals or KPIs based on success metrics

Example goals or KPIs (Source: FinOps Community data.finops.org)

• Cost allocation rate of at least 80%

• Resource-based committed use discount coverage of about 70%

• Variance between predicted and actual spending is 15%

Run

Phase characteristics

• The capability is understood and followed by all teams in the organization

• Starts to address difficult edge cases

• Sets very high goals or KPIs based on success metrics

• Automation is prioritized

Example goals or KPIs (Source: FinOps Community data.finops.org)

• Cost allocation rate of more than 90%

• Resource-based committed use discount coverage of about 80%

• Variance between predicted and actual spending is 12%