Is FinOps only about cloud usage optimization or does it go deeper?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I was joined by Tim Nolan, Senior FinOps Engineer at DataRobot, who saved over $1M in AWS costs in just four months and achieved 99% tagging compliance.

Tim shares his journey from engineering to IT finance to FinOps, and why negotiation skills, procurement partnerships, and tagging discipline are just as critical to FinOps success as cloud cost visibility. He explains how to approach AWS renewals, build efficiency projects that scale, and why engineers and FinOps must work hand-in-hand.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why FinOps is more than usage optimization

• Negotiating AWS commitments and renewals with confidence

• How procurement and FinOps collaborate on vendor management

• Achieving 99% tagging compliance (and the Kubernetes challenge)

• Turning efficiency projects into business value

If you’re navigating cloud negotiations, tackling tagging compliance, or partnering with procurement—this episode is full of practical FinOps insights you can apply today.

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Quote of the Show:

• "You have to know what you know and know what you don't know, and understand there are other engineering experts out there in your company and use that [to make the most impact]. Right? And be a cheerleader. Make sure to celebrate their wins." - Tim Nolan

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-nolan-559a1710/
• Website: https://www.datarobot.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency