Know what your cloud costs, and pay only for what you use.
We set up FinOps practices and tooling for SAP and non-SAP workloads on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. You get clear cost visibility by team and system, steady savings from right-sizing, commitments and scheduling, and a routine that keeps costs under control after the first clean-up.
Why cloud costs drift
Cloud billing is based on use, so costs follow decisions made every day by many people. Systems are sized for peak and left that way, non-production environments run all weekend, commitments are bought without a plan and resources are created without tags. SAP adds its own constraints, because HANA must run on SAP certified instance types and some systems cannot simply be switched off. Without a shared view of cost and clear owners, savings found once tend to disappear within months.
No line of sight
Without consistent tags and allocation, finance sees one large bill and nobody can say which team or system drives it.
Oversized systems
Instances chosen for a migration or a sizing estimate often stay larger than real use needs.
Always-on non-production
Development, test and training systems that run around the clock use capacity for hours when nobody is working.
Commitments without a plan
Reserved capacity and savings commitments help only when they match stable, long term use. Buying too much or too little both waste money.
What we do
We combine FinOps practice with hands-on engineering on SAP and cloud workloads.
Cost visibility and allocation
We design a tagging or labelling standard and apply it through policy so every resource has an owner, system and environment. We build reports and dashboards by business unit, project and SAP system.
Right-sizing
We compare actual CPU, memory and storage use with what is provisioned and recommend smaller or newer instance types. For HANA we stay within SAP certified sizes and keep headroom for growth.
Commitment planning
We analyse stable use and recommend reserved instances, savings plans or committed use discounts that fit your forecast. We track coverage and use over time and adjust as the estate changes.
Scheduling non-production SAP
We set up SAP aware start and stop schedules so development, quality and training systems shut down cleanly out of hours and start before people need them. Schedules respect batch jobs, transports and system dependencies.
Storage and data clean-up
We find unattached disks, old snapshots, outdated backups and data that can move to cheaper storage tiers. We apply lifecycle rules so the problem does not return.
FinOps operating model
We help you set roles, a monthly cost review, budgets and anomaly alerts, following the FinOps Foundation framework. Engineering, finance and business owners share one view of cost and value.
How it works
- 1
Inform
We connect to billing data, apply allocation rules and build the first cost reports. You see where money goes by team, system and environment.
2 to 4 weeks - 2
Quick wins
We remove idle resources, apply non-production schedules and fix obvious oversizing. These changes are low risk and agreed with system owners first.
2 to 4 weeks - 3
Optimise
We right-size production systems, plan commitments and review architecture choices such as storage tiers and instance families.
4 to 8 weeks - 4
Operate
We embed tagging policies, budgets, anomaly alerts and a monthly FinOps review. Savings are tracked and reported against a baseline.
Ongoing
Native cost tools on each cloud
Each provider has its own tools for billing data, recommendations and commitments; we use them together.
| Need | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost reporting and analysis | AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Data Exports | Microsoft Cost Management | Cloud Billing reports and billing export to BigQuery |
| Right-sizing recommendations | AWS Compute Optimizer and Cost Optimization Hub | Azure Advisor | Active Assist recommenders and FinOps hub |
| Commitments | Savings Plans and Reserved Instances | Azure Reservations and Azure savings plan for compute | Committed use discounts |
| Scheduling | AWS Systems Manager for SAP and Instance Scheduler on AWS | Azure Center for SAP solutions start and stop | Compute Engine instance schedules |
| Allocation and governance | Cost allocation tags and AWS Budgets | Azure tags, Azure Policy and budgets | Labels, Organization Policy and budgets |
FinOps for SAP estates
How much of your SAP cost you can optimise depends on the model. If you run ECC or SAP S/4HANA yourself on a cloud subscription, including bring your own licence deployments, you control instance sizes, commitments and schedules, and we can work on all of them within SAP certified configurations. Under RISE with SAP, SAP runs the infrastructure on the hyperscaler you chose as part of the subscription, so you do not size or schedule those virtual machines. FinOps then focuses on what sits around SAP: SAP BTP consumption, integration platforms, data platforms such as SAP Business Data Cloud and Databricks, and non-SAP workloads on your own cloud accounts.
- SAP aware start and stop for non-production systems you run yourself
- Right-sizing within SAP certified HANA instance types
- Cost visibility for SAP BTP, integration and data workloads around RISE with SAP
- Tagging standards that map cloud cost to SAP system IDs and business owners
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Deliverables
- Tagging and allocation standard, enforced through policy
- Cost dashboards by business unit, system and environment
- Right-sizing and clean-up report with agreed actions
- Commitment plan with coverage tracking
- Non-production start and stop schedules for SAP and non-SAP systems
- FinOps operating model with monthly review routine
Frequently asked
What is FinOps?
FinOps is an operating model for cloud spend, set out by the FinOps Foundation. It brings engineering, finance and business teams together so decisions on cloud use are made with cost and value in view. The framework has three phases: Inform, Optimize and Operate.
Can we switch off SAP systems at night?
For non-production systems you run yourself, yes, as long as the shutdown is SAP aware. We stop the application servers and HANA cleanly before the virtual machines, and start them in the right order, while avoiding times when batch jobs or transports are planned.
Can we optimise costs under RISE with SAP?
Under RISE with SAP the infrastructure is part of SAP's subscription and SAP runs it, so you do not size or schedule those virtual machines. We focus on the workloads around it, such as SAP BTP, integration, data platforms and non-SAP systems on your own cloud accounts.
Should we buy commitments straight after migration?
Usually not straight away. We recommend running for a few weeks to see real use, right-sizing first and then committing to the stable baseline, so you do not lock in oversized capacity.
Do you quote savings figures?
We do not promise a fixed figure before we have seen your data. After the Inform phase we give you a list of specific actions with estimated effect, and we track the actual results against a baseline.
Often paired with this
Plan your move with people who know SAP.
One working session with our cloud and SAP architects. You leave with the options, the risks and a first plan.
- Your landscape reviewed
- The right cloud and region
- A first roadmap
We call our approach to FinOps & Cost Optimisation the Falfield Cadence: advice that stays on your side of the table.
AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and SAP are trademarks of their respective owners.