Optimising cloud costs with FinOps as a managed service
In many organisations, cloud expenditure is growing faster than actual usage. With Claranet FinOps as a managed service, you gain structured cloud cost management that creates transparency, identifies potential savings and embeds cloud governance permanently within your operations.
Are your cloud costs spiralling out of control? Four common causes
According to Flexera’s State of the Cloud Report 2025, 84% of companies cite cloud cost management as their top cloud priority. At the same time, most are wasting up to a third of their cloud budget.
Lack of cost transparency in the public cloud
Cloud expenditure is spread across dozens of accounts, services and teams. Without structured cloud cost management, it is difficult to maintain an overview. Budget overruns are identified too late, and responsibilities are unclear.
Untapped potential for optimisation
Over-provisioned instances, orphaned snapshots and incorrectly sized Reserved Instances are driving up your cloud bill. Gartner estimates that 30–40% of cloud expenditure can be saved through consistent cloud cost optimisation.
Incomplete cloud governance
Inconsistent tagging prevents accurate cost allocation. There is a lack of policy enforcement, compliance reporting is time-consuming, and new resources continue to be provisioned without adhering to standards.
A lack of FinOps expertise within the team
Building an in-house FinOps team takes months. However, the need for structured cloud cost management is here now.
This is exactly where Claranet FinOps comes in: with measurable transparency, concrete optimisation and sustainable cloud governance.
Claranet FinOps Services at a glance
Unlike traditional FinOps consultancy projects, Claranet delivers FinOps as a structured, pre-packaged managed service with predictable costs and clearly defined scope of services during day-to-day operations.
Claranet FinOps as a Managed Service – Lifecycle
Unlike traditional FinOps consultancy projects, Claranet delivers FinOps as a packaged managed service. The FinOps lifecycle – comprising Inform, Optimise and Operate – runs continuously.
The FinOps building blocks in detail
Each phase consists of four clearly defined components, each with a clearly defined scope of work.
Inform: Gaining transparency over your cloud expenditure
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CCM Tool Setup and Integration
Set-up of the Cloud Cost Management Tool, integration of all cloud accounts, configuration of access permissions and billing data exports. Complete transparency from day one.
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Budget Alerts
Automated notifications when budgets are exceeded, with thresholds based on actual or forecast spend, tailored to your budget structure.
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Budget Reporting
Regular reports on budget performance, broken down by cloud services, projects and cost centres. A data foundation for cloud budget planning and management.
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Tagging Strategy Development
A company-specific tagging framework with mandatory and optional tags, naming conventions and value ranges, agreed with stakeholders.
Optimise: Targeted reduction of cloud costs
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Tagging Strategy Implementation
Technical implementation using Infrastructure-as-Code templates, policy enforcement via organisation-wide authorisation policies, and automated monitoring.
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Cloud Rightsizing
Analysis of over- and under-provisioned resources. Specific recommendations on downsizing, upscaling or switching to more efficient service types such as PaaS or serverless.
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Commitment Optimisation
Scenario-based decision-making templates for Savings Plans and Reserved Instances. Savings of up to 66 per cent compared with on-demand pricing are possible.
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Cloud Waste Management
Identification of inactive, orphaned or unused resources. A structured waste report with prioritisation; direct rectification by Claranet on request.
Operate: Cloud cost management during ongoing operations
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Cloud Anomaly Detection
AI-powered monitoring: detect significant anomalies in less than 24 hours and have them assessed by FinOps analysts.
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Tagging Maintenance & Policy Compliance
Ongoing monitoring of tagging quality, regular compliance reports, and automated escalation of non-compliant resources.
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Cloud Cost Optimisation Workshops
Interactive workshops with stakeholders to further develop your cloud cost strategy and evaluate architectural redesigns.
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Funding Management
Make active use of the hyperscalers’ incentive programmes, credits and discount schemes, from AWS Migration Acceleration to Azure Hybrid Benefit.
Use cases for FinOps in SMEs
Four scenarios in which Claranet’s FinOps provides measurable benefits to medium-sized businesses.
Public cloud expenditure has risen unexpectedly
The public cloud budget has risen, though the cause remains unclear. Claranet sets up anomaly detection and budget alerts and provides an initial assessment within 24 hours.
Multi-account environment is growing unchecked
Dozens of cloud accounts, multiple teams, no standardised cost allocation. Claranet consolidates all data in the CCM tool and implements an organisation-wide tagging framework.
Migration to the public cloud planned
Those who only start using FinOps after migration end up paying twice. Claranet embeds cloud governance right from the start, ensuring that tagging, budgets and policies are in place as soon as the system goes live.
Reducing the cloud budget sustainably
The aim is to reduce the cloud budget in a structured manner. Claranet analyses potential savings, calculates the optimal coverage for Savings Plans and supports the implementation process right through to completion.
Why choose Claranet as a FinOps provider in Germany?
Six ways in which Claranet differs from traditional FinOps providers and consultancy firms.
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Experience with German SMEs
Support for medium-sized companies in the mechanical engineering, logistics, financial services and software sectors, with a strong regional focus.
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Packaged managed services rather than project-based business
Many providers offer FinOps as a one-off project with a defined end date and no ongoing support. Claranet offers both: a Professional Service to get you started and a Managed Service for long-term operation.
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Predictable costs rather than a daily rate
A fixed monthly price per package, with no daily consulting rate. You know in advance what you’ll be paying and what services you’ll receive in return.
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Get started with no contract commitment
With the Professional Service, you can get started without any long-term commitment. Once you’re convinced, you can then switch to the Managed Service.
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Multi-cloud coverage for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud
One FinOps approach, three hyperscalers. You can keep track of everything, even in heterogeneous cloud environments.
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Clear scope of work without scope creep
You get exactly what’s in the package. No renegotiation, no hidden costs.
CERTIFIED CLOUD EXPERTISE
Claranet FinOps compared to dedicated FinOps tools
Tools such as CloudHealth, Apptio, Cloudability and Vantage provide dashboards and recommendations. Implementation remains the responsibility of your team. Claranet FinOps provides dashboards plus operational implementation: we configure, optimise and operate the cloud cost management tool, identify potential savings and implement measures such as rightsizing, commitment optimisation or tagging directly within your cloud environment.
Claranet FinOps compared to traditional FinOps consultancy
Traditional FinOps consultancy ends with a catalogue of recommended actions. Claranet FinOps continues to run continuously as a packaged managed service, featuring anomaly detection, regular reports and ongoing optimisation. You pay a fixed monthly fee instead of daily consultancy rates and receive predictable services without scope creep.
The benefits of working with Claranet
Predictable costs
A fixed monthly price per package instead of daily consultant rates.
Strategic partnership
Regular discussions on cloud costs and potential.
Flexible service model
Multi-cloud coverage
A FinOps approach for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Frequently asked questions about FinOps and cloud cost management
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FinOps combines finance operations and cloud technology into a single discipline that provides transparency over cloud expenditure, clarifies responsibilities and systematically identifies opportunities for optimisation. At its core, it is about finance, engineering and business working together to make data-driven decisions on the use of cloud resources. Claranet delivers FinOps as a managed service, providing you with methodology, tools and day-to-day operations all from a single source.
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The FinOps Foundation’s FinOps Framework organises cloud cost management into three recurring phases: Inform (creating transparency), Optimise (reducing costs) and Operate (ensuring long-term governance). Claranet maps this FinOps lifecycle across its service modules. You benefit from a methodology that is internationally recognised and, at the same time, tailored to your cloud environment.
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Cloud cost optimisation refers to all measures aimed at specifically reducing cloud expenditure: rightsizing, commitment planning and waste management. FinOps is the overarching framework that brings finance, IT and business together to manage cloud costs in a structured way. Claranet provides both as a managed service.
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Traditional FinOps consultancy is typically delivered as a fixed-term project with daily rates and concludes once the action plan has been finalised. Claranet FinOps is designed as a packaged managed service, with fixed monthly prices, defined service scopes and continuous operation. You can get started with a Professional Service, with no contractual commitment and no minimum term.
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Gartner estimates that 30 to 40 per cent of cloud expenditure can be saved through consistent cloud cost optimisation. According to cloud providers, commitment models such as Savings Plans or Reserved Instances on AWS alone can deliver savings of up to 66% compared with on-demand prices. The actual savings potential depends on your cloud architecture, workload stability and the current maturity level of your cloud cost management. We will quantify this in the first workshop.
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The CCM tool setup, including AWS account integration, is usually completed within a few days. Initial rightsizing and waste reduction recommendations are typically available within the first month. For urgent requirements, we recommend the Cost Optimisation Professional Service as a quick start.
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Yes. Claranet FinOps covers all three hyperscalers and consolidates cost and usage data into a central cloud cost management tool. This gives you a unified view of your entire cloud landscape, regardless of whether workloads are running on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud. We manage hyperscaler-specific discount and incentive programmes, such as Savings Plans, Azure Hybrid Benefit and Google Cloud Credits, using a consistent approach.
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Yes. Claranet FinOps does not require a minimum level of cloud spend. Small and medium-sized enterprises also benefit from structured cloud cost management, as it enables inefficiencies to be identified at an early stage and ensures that cloud governance is embedded from the outset. The packaged service offerings are specifically tailored to small and medium-sized enterprises that do not wish to set up their own FinOps team.
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The Inform phase, comprising CCM tool setup, budget alerting and initial reports, is usually up and running within a few weeks. The Optimise phase, comprising cloud rightsizing, commitment optimisation and waste management, then follows in a series of structured steps. The Operate phase, featuring anomaly detection and continuous monitoring, subsequently runs continuously in the background, without requiring any additional effort on your part.
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Claranet takes charge of day-to-day FinOps operations. There are defined consultation points for tagging implementation and rightsizing. Commitment decisions are always made jointly and implemented following approval by your team.
