Elliot Foreman and Andrew DeLave from ProsperOps joined Yuliia and Dumky to discuss automated cloud cost optimization through commitment management. As Google go-to-market director and senior FinOps specialist, they explain how their platform manages over $4 billion in cloud spend by automating reserved instances, committed use discounts, and savings plans across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. The conversation covers the psychology behind commitment hesitation, break-even point mathematics for cloud discounts, workload volatility optimization, and why they avoid AI in favor of deterministic algorithms for financial decisions. They share insights on managing complex multi-cloud environments, the human vs automation debate in FinOps, and practical strategies for reducing cloud costs while mitigating commitment risks.

In this podcast episode, we talked with Eddy Zulkifly about From Supply Chain Management to Digital Warehousing and FinOps

About the Speaker: Eddy Zulkifly is a Staff Data Engineer at Kinaxis, building robust data platforms across Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS. With a decade of experience in data, he actively shares his expertise as a Mentor on ADPList and Teaching Assistant at Uplimit. Previously, he was a Senior Data Engineer at Home Depot, specializing in e-commerce and supply chain analytics. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Eddy is also passionate about open-source data projects and enjoys watching/exploring the analytics behind the Fantasy Premier League.

In this episode, we dive into the world of data engineering and FinOps with Eddy Zulkifly, Staff Data Engineer at Kinaxis. Eddy shares his unconventional career journey—from optimizing physical warehouses with Excel to building digital data platforms in the cloud.

🕒 TIMECODES 0:00 Eddy’s career journey: From supply chain to data engineering 8:18 Tools & learning: Excel, Docker, and transitioning to data engineering 21:57 Physical vs. digital warehousing: Analogies and key differences 31:40 Introduction to FinOps: Cloud cost optimization and vendor negotiations 40:18 Resources for FinOps: Certifications and the FinOps Foundation 45:12 Standardizing cloud cost reporting across AWS/GCP/Azure 50:04 Eddy’s master’s degree and closing thoughts

🔗 CONNECT WITH EDDY Twitter - https://x.com/eddarief Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddyzulkifly/ Github: https://github.com/eyzyly/eyzyly ADPList: https://adplist.org/mentors/eddy-zulkifly

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Scott Hirleman, founder of Data Mesh Radio, has a very diverse career, including a role as FinOps Manager. In this podcast, we sit down together to discuss his FinOps philosophy: cost containment, cost attribution, and cost forecasting. It's an insightful conversation on how to balance costs for data teams with both data and business considerations in mind.

John Grubb is the Sr. Director of FinOps and Cost Modeling at Platform.sh. With experience as a former Data Platform Director, Director of BI & Analytics, and Director of Customer Care, John brings a sharp perspective on why cloud costs matter. He knows how to align financial and engineering teams and believes that FinOps is about maximizing the value of every cloud dollar rather than just cutting costs.Follow John on Linkedin- https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnygrubb/John's blog - https://www.thefinoperator.com/

Dan O'Brien and Kevin Petrie discuss FinOps, which is a cost governance discipline for cloud-based analytics and operational projects.

As enterprises grow more dependent on the cloud and as the economy convulses, FinOps will soon become mandatory. Published at: https://www.eckerson.com/articles/the-rise-of-finops-cost-governance-for-cloud-based-analytics

Data observability provides intelligence about data quality and data pipeline performance, contributing to the disciplines of DataOps and FinOps. Vendors such as DataKitchen, DataOps.live, Informatica, and Unravel offer solutions to help enterprises address these overlapping disciplines. Published at: https://www.eckerson.com/articles/the-blending-disciplines-of-data-observability-dataops-and-finops