FinOps: The On-Premise Power Play!
Everyone's talking about hyperscalers these days—AWS, AZURE, GCP etc…
But here's the thing:
On-premise cloud still matters, and it’s not going anywhere. Companies still rely on them for workloads that just make sense to keep on-premise.
FinOps for on-premise environments is just as critical, maybe even more so, because you’ve got all the same cost-saving principles but with a whole different set of challenges.
And not many are talking about it.
You’ve got the hardware, the software, the maintenance—the whole nine yards. And, while it feels like you're not "renting" from a cloud provider, on-premise still burns a hole in your wallet if you're not careful.
That’s where FinOps can make a huge difference.
Take compute, for instance. In hyperscaler clouds, it’s all about managing virtual instances, scaling up or down. On-premise? You’re dealing with actual servers, real-life boxes sitting in data centers, consuming power, requiring cooling, and, worst of all, depreciating over time.
FinOps practitioners need to think long-term here—balancing upfront capital expenditure with ongoing operational costs.
Storage? Same deal. The hyperscalers bill you by the gigabyte, but with on-premise, you’re investing in storage arrays that you’ll need to optimize for both cost and performance.
It’s not as easy as just moving things to cold storage like on AWS.
You need to be strategic about how much you’re buying and how efficiently you’re using it. And, of course, there’s always the risk of underutilization—paying for storage you’re not even using.
Networking costs can sneak up on you, too. On-premise cloud setups are often hybrid, with data flowing between private data centers and public clouds.
Monitoring this flow and managing network optimization is where FinOps plays its most tactical game.
Egress costs might not exist in the same form, but data transfer between environments can lead to latency issues, which can kill performance if not handled right.
Software licensing in on-premise cloud is another layer that hyperscaler fans tend to overlook. You’re not just paying for what you use; you’ve got licenses for everything from operating systems to middleware to specialized apps.
FinOps can help keep track of these licenses, making sure you’re not overspending on licenses that are either underutilized or unnecessary.
Companies often forget about licenses they’re no longer using or ones they can optimize, and that’s pure waste.
At the end of the day, applying FinOps to an on-premise cloud requires a different mindset. You're not just paying for virtual resources—you own the infrastructure, and that brings in a whole new set of cost variables.
Keeping track of the lifecycle costs of hardware, optimizing workload placement, and making sure you're not over-provisioning resources all need a solid FinOps strategy.
Yes, hyperscalers are popular for a reason. But don’t get caught thinking that FinOps principles can’t work wonders in an on-premise cloud setup.
If anything, the stakes are higher, and so are the opportunities for serious savings.