I'm working in a setting where we have robust cost monitoring in AWS and Azure, but unfortunately, our FinOps recommendations are largely ignored. They sit unopened in emails or cluttered Excel sheets. There's a glaring disconnect here—while we identify real opportunities for savings, we struggle to integrate these recommendations into the development workflows that engineers follow. I believe we need a method to funnel these suggestions directly into Jira tickets or Slack channels, where developers are more likely to engage with them. Has anyone faced and solved this integration challenge? What tools or strategies can effectively prompt engineers to act on cost suggestions instead of pushing them aside?
5 Answers
I've seen engineers ignore recommendations because they feel like busywork rather than pressing tasks. One thing that's worked for us is incentivizing teams for cost-saving efforts. We use a tool called pointfive that directly integrates with Jira, assigning ownership and providing impact estimates. When saving money feels like part of the engineering job, they engage!
There’s definitely an organizational disconnect here. Engineers focus on deliverables that get them recognition and advance their goals. If they aren't given room in their roadmap to accommodate these cost recommendations, they'll just keep pushing them aside. How about getting the product owners involved to make it a team goal?
The challenge lies in culture and management's priorities. Engineers often get more recognition for new features than for cost optimization. If you can tie cost savings to their bonuses or performance metrics, you might find they prioritize it more. Also, sending recommendations directly to Jira is essential; emails just don't cut it.
From the perspective of a software developer, we get overwhelmed with recommendations from various tools. Filtering the noise is a survival instinct! If the recommendations aren’t tied to specific outcomes or responsibilities, they tend to get ignored. Finding a way to label critical recommendations—where a manager flags something as a serious issue—could help.
True! If something seems urgent and tangible, we might be more likely to act on it.
Honestly, the issue isn't just about workflow; it's also about incentives. If you want engineers to pay attention, you need to integrate FinOps into their development plans and performance reviews. Make it a part of what they're measured on, and that could solve the problem right away.
Totally agree. Connecting FinOps goals with engineering KPIs could bridge that gap. Write epics in Jira that focus on financial optimizations.
Yeah, but don’t overlook the workflow itself. If acting on a recommendation means digging through emails to manually create tickets, it’s bound to get lost in the shuffle. No one has the time!
Exactly! If saving costs becomes a tangible goal linked to rewards, the team is more likely to take it seriously.