FinOps Certification Exam Study Guide and Crib Sheet

FinOps, or “Cloud Financial Operations” is the practice of bringing financial accountability to the variable spend model of cloud, enabling distributed teams to make business trade-offs between speed, cost, and quality. 

FinOps is one of the hottest areas in the Cloud Computing sector right now. 

FinOps knowledge is now a must have requirement for an every increasing number of Cloud professionals as well as IT professionals. 

Companies are ever challenged managing their cloud costs and need skilled professionals. 

Did you know that the average salary of a FinOps professional was $115,229 as of August 2022! 

The FinOps Certified Practitioner (FOCP) allows individuals in a large variety of cloud, finance and technology roles to validate their FinOps knowledge and enhance their professional credibility.

The certification is designed for senior professionals who desire a basic understanding of FinOps and how it’s applied to enhance business value from cloud spend.

Organizations undergoing a public cloud-first strategy or who are in the midst of a public cloud migration will also benefit greatly.

The following crib sheet will help you find the objectives information to study. 

Top Courses 

Top Books 

Why you may want to take the FinOps Practitioner Exam

 Is FinOps Certification Worth it?   

Top Reasons to take the FinOps Practitioner exam  

Study Guide Crib sheet with Recommended Links


Challenge of Cloud – 8%

Understand the main challenges of working with Cloud Computing

10 major cloud computing challenges to face

7 unique challenges of Cloud Computing

3 FinOps challenges for optimizing the cloud

Main challenges of cloud financial management

Recognize the differences between Cloud and Traditional IT

Differences between cloud computing & traditional computing

Cloud Computing vs. Traditional IT Infrastructure

Traditional computing vs. Cloud Computing


TechCommanders FinOps Practitioner Crash Course  (With Practice Questions)


What is FinOps & FinOps Principles – 12%

Define what FinOps is

What is FinOps?

What is FinOps & how can your team start optimizing?

Why do we need FinOps?

Understand each of the FinOps Principles

FinOps foundation | FinOps principles

Main FinOps principles

Cloud FinOps, Part 1: Principles

Linux Foundation FinOps Certification Course with Exam

FinOps Teams & Motivation – 12%

Describe the skills, roles, and responsibilities of a FinOps Team

Organization & key roles in the FinOps world

Stakeholders of Cloud Financial Management

Describe where a FinOps team would be situated

Why every DevOps team needs a FinOps lead?

Cultural shift & the FinOps team

Understand what drives a FinOps team’s size, position, and makeup

4 reasons your cloud operations need a FinOps team

FinOps team structure

FinOps team size

Linux Foundation FinOps Certification Course with Exam

FinOps Capabilities – 28%

Understand the six pillars of FinOps Capabilities

FinOps capabilities

The pillars of cloud cost optimization

Describe the activities associated with each capability

Cost allocation

Data analysis & showback

Managing anomalies

Manage shared cost

Forecasting

Budget management

FinOps Lifecycle – 30%

Describe the FinOps lifecycle, its phases, and purpose

FinOps phases

The FinOps lifecycle

FinOps journey: 3 phases you need to know

The ultimate guide to FinOps phases

Understand the basic processes that FinOps teams enact in the FinOps Lifecycle

How does the FinOps process work?

Terminology & the Cloud Bill – 10%

Understand basic cloud, FinOps, DevOps & Finance terminology

Important cloud computing terms

The essential guide to cloud terminology

FinOps terminology

Common finance vocabulary terms

Describe the characteristics of the Cloud Bills

4 essential characteristics of cloud billing platforms

Overview of cloud billing concepts

TechCommanders FinOps Practitioner Crash Course  (With Practice Questions)

Linux Foundation FinOps Certification Course with Exam


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