Missed our latest webinar on FinOps for MSPs? We’ve got you covered!

This blog post will cover what the FinOps experts discussed and the main things to remember.

FinOps are revolutionizing MSP operations by adding a data-driven approach to cost management. This method helps MSPs optimize their cloud usage, provide white-glove support to customers, and give visibility on their expenses.

Why it matters:  Competition among MSPs is fierce as businesses aim to maximize the value of their IT investments. You must prove your worth to prospects and customers to stand out from other providers. 

Enabling FinOps can be a highly effective strategy to distinguish your cloud reseller business, and we’ll show you why.

In this webinar recap, we’ll highlight:

• How MSPs can add value with FinOps services
• FinOps success from an MSP perspective 
• Q&A 

Not much of a reader? Watch it on demand!

Empowering MSPs with FinOps Services

Our presenter, Melissa Abecasis, has been there. As a former worker of an MSP, she’s dealt with various FinOps issues, making her an expert solution finder.

Below are some examples of FinOps challenges and specific tactics to resolve them.

 Roadblock: Many recruits needed a FinOps background. This means more time needs to be devoted to educating them.

• MSPs need experienced consultants and need them fast.
• Training slows down operations on both the vendor and customer sides.
• Customer satisfaction is at risk when services are prolonged. 

Solution: Find a tool that expedites the learning curve for FinOps engineers. A platform that can give real-time guidance and explanations to customers.

Psssst… Anodot’s Recommendations feature can help with this! 

Roadblock: Unsatisfied customers are getting repetitive recommendations from their reps.

• MSPs need to show their insights are relevant.
• The value of service decreases for the customer.
• Shaken trust in vendor’s credibility. 

Solution: A customizable feature that can automate reminders so the information given is timely and accurate.

BTW: Anodot’s Exclude feature lets you add notes and tweak the timing to bring up specific points again when they make the most sense to the customer.

Roadblock: Cloud costs are increasing for the customer. 

• The customer seeks validation of the value offered by the MSP.
• The customer wonders if having a FinOps team is worth the investment.
• There is no evidence to support an ROI for this service.

Solution: Demonstrate to your customers that your work saves money by providing insights that your services are still cost-effective even if cloud costs are going up

(FYI: Anodot has a tool that automatically tracks actions, so your MSP teams don’t have to do it manually). 

Watch Melissa’s full presentation in the on-demand webinar.

Achieving Financial Operations Success from an MSP Perspective

Validation is vital when proving that FinOps adds value to cloud-based environments. That’s why first-hand experience with FinOps significantly increases its credibility. 

Sergio Gonzaga, Solutions Architecture Lead at CloudZone, tells about his FinOps journey with his MSP company.

Here are some essential points he covered:

Highlight 1:  Flexible billing and custom views can help MSP customers understand if the services they are utilizing (or not) are within budget. 

• Custom views help see spending across departments and business units
• Tech strategy can be implemented based on the insights.
• A better comprehension of cost variations across different tiers or sizes for the same services.

Highlight 2: Tracking cost progress is vital to understand cost impacts during production. 

• Relevant dimensions can ensure that MSP spending is reasonable. 
• Tailored services for launching a custom namespace can be adjusted as needed.
• Monitoring cost per app, component, or by the team can give better support to customers with ML ops. 

Highlight 3: Accuracy is critical when providing software-as-a-service subscriptions.

• Context support in a multi-tenant solution is crucial. 
• The location of customers in different regions can incur high costs.
• With Anodot’s insights, informed decisions can be made and support overall business decisions.

You can watch Sergio’s entire session by viewing the on-demand webinar.

FinOps for MSPs: Q&A 

Our attendees had some outstanding questions during our webinar. Here are a few of the top questions they had:

What’s Anodot’s level of support for MSPs regarding tool learning?

Melissa: Our customer success team is included for all customers, and we offer one-on-one training and training programs to ensure you understand and get value from the tool. We are developing a FinOps training program to support your new employees using the tool with a cloud background. Our support person is closely connected with customer success and R&D teams to ensure smooth and swift operations.

Does Anodot have a way to double-check the margins from their reporting? 

Melissa: Yes, we provide options to break down margins when moving from partner to customer. There are two ways to do this. 

First, by clicking on the “I” icon in the billing history, you can see a breakdown of all line items, how the margin was calculated, where it was purchased, which account received it, and how much they received that did not belong to them. 

Second, the cost usage explorer breaks down costs and allows you to move from partner to customer for specific services down to the resource level.

Finally, you can contact us through email, Slack, or phone to fully understand where the margin comes from.

How well can Anodot capture SaaS service costs from AWS, Azure, and GCP?

Melissa: This year, we will introduce specific SaaS cost support and provide details at a later date. We are committed to applying FinOps to cost areas, including SaaS. With business mapping, we can see a split of managed services in AWS versus non-managed services. This helps us compare which costs more and decide on the architecture.

Final thoughts 

MSPs can reap the rewards of a FinOps-oriented framework. It’s a great way to save on cloud costs, up customer ROI, and ensure you deliver value to your end users. 

Wanna learn more? 

Grab our FinOps guide for MSPs

FYI: Anodot’s cloud cost management solution can help align MSP cloud costs with key business dimensions. Let’s talk!