Many organizations are considering migrating to Kubernetes, and while it certainly has advantages, it’s not for everyone. In this article, we’ll explain why you might use Kubernetes, what you should ask yourself before embarking on a Kubernetes migration, and tips to keep in mind as you make the switch.

A variance analysis report is used to measure actual performance against your budgeted or planned performance. From a finance perspective, it’s essentially a way to measure your organization’s planning effectiveness. While there are a number of reasons you might be surprised by your variance analysis, it can be a signal that something went wrong along the way and you have not been collaborating with your team, are using the wrong tools, or have ineffective processes.

For many organizations, cloud costs are a mystery. Beyond knowing their total cloud spend, businesses have little insight into the biggest drivers of their costs, let alone how they can better manage their cloud investment. With on-premise infrastructure, organizations have a predictable understanding of their costs, but the same cannot be said for the cloud.

Looking to optimize your Kubernetes architecture? While the word “Kubernetes” translates to “helmsman” (i.e., someone who steers a ship), Kubernetes ultimately functions more like an orchestra conductor than a ship captain. Kubernetes (also known as K8s) simplifies the process of orchestrating containers for engineers . This frees engineering up to focus on innovation, reduce time-to-market, and optimize cloud spend.

According to AWS, “Creating a software system is a lot like constructing a building. If the foundation is not solid, structural problems can undermine the integrity and function of the building.” This is especially true when it comes to the cloud. If an organization doesn’t effectively oversee key areas of its foundation, it’s likely the result is not going to be successful. When it comes to cloud management, we look at it through the lens of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.

Like any SaaS organization, CloudZero cares about our COGS, margin, and unit cost. As you can imagine, we have a fair amount of insight into how those numbers are changing every day thanks to being “customer zero” on our cloud cost intelligence platform. Talking with other companies, I often find that the best organizations understand that measuring the cost implications of new products and features once you’ve deployed them can be too late.

If you're in FP&A, it can sometimes feel like outsiders think your job is all about routine tasks, like tracking budgets and reporting on cost — which couldn’t be further from the truth. A great FP&A professional deeply understands the business, has a strong command of its metrics, and uses that data to serve as a trusted advisor and partner to stakeholders. You’re not just a “counter” and “tracker” — you’re a driver of strategic outcomes.

Finance and engineering both thrive on efficiency. So when companies realize they’re wasting cloud spend, but aren’t sure where or how, both teams become frustrated. It’s remarkable how common this scenario is, particularly in the past five years. Before the pandemic, Gartner reported companies wasted over $14 billion in 2019 on cloud services. During the height of the pandemic and cloud adoption spurt in 2020, IDG reported that 70% of US businesses overspent by as much as 62%.

Establishing a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE) is an important milestone in every company’s cloud computing journey. While it is usually not the first milestone — which is focused on delivering value to customers — this milestone is reached as the company grows and scales. Turning ad-hoc cloud initiatives into a company-wide strategy, the CCOE helps the business to manage the cloud process and adopt best practices.

Rolled out in 2011, AWS ElastiCache has grown to become one of the most prominent Amazon services among developers. So much so that in the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, one of its fully-managed engines was voted by developers as the most loved database. On the flip side, however, AWS ElastiCache happens to be infamous for its high costs. Although it offers a flexible pricing system that charges you only for what you use, the usage bill can get pretty high for some users.