SG blog 11.23

How FinOps Empowers Organizations to Tame Costs and Drive Efficiency

November 9, 2023

Author: Sergio Molina is Head of Cloud – FinOps at Santander UK and an ITAM Forum Ambassador (FinOps)

FinOps is a recent function and the natural response to addressing the challenge of understanding the true costs associated with Cloud Technology. Cloud FinOps really stands for Financial Management and DevOps. We define Cloud FinOps as a set of practices that combine financial management and technical expertise to optimize cloud spending and align investments with business goals.

Speed is the key distinction between operating and building products in cloud technology, as opposed to the server-based and on-premises computing paradigm. Speed encompasses availability, deployment, acceleration and product growth, which inherently results in rapid cost fluctuations. And the main reason why the speed is different, is that you are not buying infrastructure or ‘objects’ to place within your organization’s Data Centre. You are buying the time of the technology element, the capacity.
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Snow Blog x2 11.23

Bridging ITAM and FinOps for Success Today and in the Future

November 9, 2023

Author: Apurva Mahendra from Snow Software (an ITAM Forum Patron)

This blog first appeared here on the Snow Software website.

In today’s business landscape, companies are adopting a hybrid infrastructure model with the public cloud experiencing rapid growth. Spending on the public cloud is projected to increase by 21.7% to $597.3 billion in 2023, up from $491 billion in 2022.

In this hybrid reality, FinOps professionals are tasked to derive the business value of cloud and work with other parts of the business (engineering, finance, business teams, etc.) to collaborate on data-driven spending decisions.

The north star principle1 from the FinOps Foundation is, “Teams must collaborate.” Among those teams and personas are the ITAM leader and ITAM practitioner, and they lay the groundwork for a successful cloud cost program.
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Mastering modern SaaS management_ challenges, strategies, and solutions

Mastering modern SaaS management: challenges, strategies, and solutions

November 7, 2023

Author: Julien Kuijper
Global Product Manager, SoftwareOne (an ITAM Forum Patron)

This blog first appeared here on the SoftwareOne website.

Organisations face a multitude of challenges when it comes to managing their ever-expanding SaaS estate. These challenges can be categorised into two groups: those related to compliance and those associated with efficiency. To effectively address these challenges, organisations need a robust governance model that encompasses both.

Here, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about overcoming these challenges. Read more

Statistics for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Securing Your Digital World: Statistics for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October 26, 2023

Author: Mustafa Çelen
Software Asset Manager – Türk Telekom, ITAM Forum Ambassador – Infosecurity

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and there’s no better time to shed light on the critical importance of safeguarding our digital lives. As technology evolves, new cyber threats continue to emerge. In the last four years, Türkiye has witnessed an alarming rise in cybercrime. With 40.6 million people falling victim to 176 data breaches some of which had foreign origins. Globally, unauthorised access accounts for 43% of data breaches making it essential to comprehend the gravity of this threat. Read more

Convergence of SAM and Cybersecurity can bridge the data gap

SAM + Cybersecurity can bridge the data gap

August 29, 2023

Author: Rebecca Horton
Managing Director and Business Lead, USU

Cross-functional collaboration between Cybersecurity and ITAM has never been more essential for risk management and to mitigate IT vulnerabilities.

Modern IT estates are complex and multifaceted. Organisations are transitioning to off-premises cloud landscapes and breaking systems into components in containers. With thousands of applications and services scattered across hundreds of providers, environments, and platforms, leading analysts see a double-digit growth of public cloud services (BPaaS, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and an increasing migration away from computing in an on-premises corporate network. Read more

Organisationally savvy IT asset mangement

Organisationally savvy IT asset management

August 18, 2023

Author: Keiren Tilbrook
Head of Business & Data Analysis, The Mastermind Group

The ITAM function typically sits between business and IT operations, which can be an uncomfortable place. Worst case is where the ITAM team becomes isolated with a foot in neither camp. Best case is where the team engages with – and has the respect of – all teams involved in IT asset lifecycles. So how do ITAM teams achieve this? I interviewed IT asset managers in three of our biggest and best customers to find out.
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Ransomware

ITAM’s important role in Ransomware

August 9, 2023

Author: Elise Cocks
IT Asset and License Management – Director; Freddie Mac

What is Ransomware?

The FBI states that malicious software, known as malware, called Ransomware prevents users from accessing their computer files, systems, or networks and demands a ransom for their return. Regardless, ransomware attacks can cause costly disruptions to operations and the loss of critical information and data.

Common attack vectors include:

  • Email campaigns known as “phishing” where a malicious file or link embedded in an email deploys malware when clicked.
  • Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) vulnerabilities: cyber criminals obtain user credentials to access company systems and deploy malware internally.
  • Software vulnerabilities: cyber criminals leverage weaknesses in common software to gain access to internal systems to deploy malware internally.

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Why FinOps should be intergrated into IT Asset Management

Why FinOps should be intergrated into IT Asset Management

July 18, 2023

Author: Sherry Irwin
Founder of Technology Asset Management Inc; ITAM Forum Trustee, ITAM Forum Canada Chapter Lead

According to the FinOps Foundation Technical Advisory Council, FinOps is “an evolving cloud financial management discipline and cultural practice that enables organizations to get maximum business value by helping engineering, finance, technology and business teams to collaborate on data-driven spending decisions.”

Indeed, other sources describe FinOps as a cost management paradigm shift, which “…strives to bring together technology, business and finance professionals to better understand cloud costs and make more informed decisions”.

Most, if not all, of the coverage suggests that FinOps is a new focus and function, typically driven by and located within the financial organization; and, with its own principles, framework, phases, maturity model and practices (capabilities).

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