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The FinOps Framework 2025 refresh has just been unveiled by the FinOps Foundation, bringing a host of updates and new features that promise to reshape the landscape of financial operations in the cloud. For practitioners who have been working with the 2024 framework, these changes represent both opportunities and challenges. Let’s dive into the key highlights and explore what they mean for the FinOps community.
The biggest change is the move from a focus on cloud costs to what FinOps Foundation are calling “Scopes” and the concept of “Cloud+” to include not only cloud platform spend, but also SaaS, Data Center, AI and Licensing. The introduction of Scopes comes from the State of FinOps 2025 Report finding that currently and over the next 12 months, FinOps teams are responsible for a growing number of additional IT costs, hence the term “Cloud+.”
Key Highlights of the FinOps Framework 2025
- Expanded Scope of Cost Allocation
- From Cloud-Centric to Comprehensive: The 2025 framework emphasizes a broader approach to cost allocation, extending beyond public cloud to include SaaS, licensing, private cloud, and data centers. This shift reflects the growing complexity of cloud environments and the need for more granular cost tracking.
- Increased Focus on SaaS Spend: There is a notable 25% increase in practitioners planning to manage SaaS spend within the next 12 months. This highlights the importance of understanding costs across the entire tech stack.
- Showback and Predictability
- Emphasis on Accurate Forecasting: The new framework prioritizes accurate forecasting and understanding costs, which are key enablers of showback. This approach fosters accountability without the complexity of chargeback.
- Investment in Tooling and Upskilling: There has been a 20% increase in investment in tooling and upskilling, indicating a shift towards practical tools that deliver actionable cost insights.
- Advanced Use Cases and AI Integration
- Rise of AI/ML Spend Management: AI and machine learning spend management have climbed in priority, driven by a significant increase in practitioners managing these areas. This reflects the growing importance of AI in cloud financial operations.
- Hybrid Environments: The framework acknowledges the need for granular tracking of AI spend across hybrid environments, which is now managed by 63% of respondents, up from 31% in 2024.
What are FinOps Scopes
The newest addition to the FinOps Framework enables organizations to have different FinOps practices and personas involved for different areas of IT spend. For example, the FinOps processes required for public cloud platform (IaaS and PaaS) might be totally different than those required for SaaS. Scopes also allow for the inclusion of non-cloud spend, such as on prem data center or private cloud costs.
FinOps Scopes are essential for setting the context in which the FinOps Framework is applied. Each Scope represents a specific segment of technology usage and associated costs, allowing practitioners to implement FinOps principles effectively. These segments can include various types of infrastructure such as Cloud, SaaS, PaaS, Data Centers, or Private Cloud.
Additionally, practitioners can extend the Framework to cover other spending categories like AI and Licensing costs. The number and nature of FinOps Scopes in your practice will be influenced by your organization’s technology strategy and business priorities. For instance, Data Center, Containers, and Licenses are examples of Scopes in the Cloud+ era.
The advantage of scopes is that organizations can mature their FinOps practices at different rates for the different scopes. It also means that not all personas need to be involved at all stages of the FinOps journey. The image below shows an example of the various technology categories that may exist across multiple cloud spend categories and how to group them into related scopes.
How Do Scopes Relate to the FinOps Framework?
Scopes play a crucial role in determining which Personas, Domains, and Capabilities are involved in the FinOps practice. They help set expectations and guide discussions about which elements of the Framework are relevant for each Scope. This ensures that the FinOps practice aligns with business strategies and can adapt to changes as needed.
Visualizing the creation of a FinOps Scope can be done by looking at the Framework poster from a top-down perspective in the examples below. For example, the FinOps Scope for AI and the FinOps Scope for Licensing each specify the relevant Personas, Domains, and Capabilities relevant to each unique scope. As you can see, they differ across the scopes, which is why it makes sense to treat them differently when applying the principles of the FinOps Framework.
Perspective and Opinion: What These Changes Mean for Practitioners
For FinOps practitioners who have been using the 2024 framework, the 2025 updates bring a mix of excitement and adaptation. Here’s a narrative on what these changes might mean:
Embracing a Broader Scope: The expanded focus on cost allocation beyond the public cloud is a welcome change as practitioners are being asked to manage a growing number of IT costs beyond simply cloud costs. Practitioners will need to develop new strategies to manage costs across SaaS, licensing, private cloud, and data centers. This comprehensive approach will likely lead to more accurate and holistic financial insights, but it will also require significant upskilling and investment in new tools.
Change in FinOps Framework Terminology: As part of this refresh of the FinOps Framework, the FinOps Foundation has also updated the terms used to describe some of their Principles and Domains. The images below summarize the key terminology changes from 2024 to 2025
In conclusion, the FinOps Framework 2025 represents the ongoing evolution in cloud financial operations. For practitioners, it offers an opportunity to expand their skills, adopt new tools, and drive greater value from their cloud investments. While the changes may seem daunting at first, they ultimately pave the way for a more efficient, accountable, and strategic approach to FinOps.
Learn more about what Invero is doing around FinOps by looking at our other blog posts on the topic and our FinOps Ready™ solution that helps companies mature their FinOps practices.
