cloudthinker-ai FinOps Maturity Assessment Skill
Assess FinOps maturity for {{ organization }} with {{ monthly_cloud_spend }} monthly cloud spend.
Workflow
Step 1 — Current State Overview
FINOPS OVERVIEW
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Organization: {{ organization }}
Monthly spend: {{ monthly_cloud_spend }}
Cloud providers: {{ cloud_providers | "TBD" }}
YoY spend growth: ___%
Engineering headcount: ___
Cost per engineer: $___/month
Current FinOps team:
[ ] Dedicated FinOps role: YES / NO
[ ] FinOps tools in use: [list]
[ ] Executive sponsor: YES / NO
[ ] Cost allocation tags: PARTIAL / FULL / NONE
Step 2 — Capability 1: Cost Visibility
COST VISIBILITY
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CRAWL:
[ ] Cloud billing data accessible to finance team
[ ] Monthly cost reports generated
[ ] Total spend tracked at account/project level
[ ] Basic cost breakdown by service type
WALK:
[ ] Cost allocation tags on >80% of resources
[ ] Costs allocated to teams/products/business units
[ ] Shared costs distributed using fair allocation model
[ ] Unit cost metrics defined (cost per transaction, per user, per GB)
[ ] Cost anomaly detection configured
[ ] Daily cost reporting available
RUN:
[ ] Real-time cost dashboards accessible to all engineers
[ ] Showback/chargeback model implemented
[ ] Cost forecasting with <10% accuracy
[ ] Unit economics tracked and trending
[ ] Cost data integrated into CI/CD (cost of change)
[ ] Multi-cloud cost normalization
CURRENT PHASE: CRAWL / WALK / RUN
Step 3 — Capability 2: Cost Optimization
COST OPTIMIZATION
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CRAWL:
[ ] Identify unused resources (unattached EBS, idle instances)
[ ] Right-size over-provisioned instances (basic analysis)
[ ] Shut down non-production resources outside business hours
[ ] Delete old snapshots and unused storage
WALK:
[ ] Reserved Instances / Savings Plans cover >60% of steady-state
[ ] Spot instances used for fault-tolerant workloads
[ ] Autoscaling configured and tuned for major services
[ ] Storage lifecycle policies (S3 tiers, archive)
[ ] Database optimization (reserved, Aurora serverless, read replicas)
[ ] Regular optimization reviews (monthly)
RUN:
[ ] RI/SP coverage >80% with automated purchasing
[ ] Continuous right-sizing with automated recommendations
[ ] Architectural optimization (serverless, containers, managed services)
[ ] Workload scheduling (batch jobs on spot, off-peak processing)
[ ] Data transfer optimization (same-region, VPC endpoints)
[ ] Waste elimination automated (auto-cleanup, TTL resources)
CURRENT PHASE: CRAWL / WALK / RUN
ESTIMATED SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY: $___/month (___% of spend)
Step 4 — Capability 3: Cost Governance
COST GOVERNANCE
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CRAWL:
[ ] Budget set at organizational level
[ ] Billing alerts for total spend threshold
[ ] Cloud access limited to authorized personnel
[ ] Basic tagging policy defined
WALK:
[ ] Per-team/project budgets established
[ ] Budget vs actual reviewed monthly
[ ] Tagging compliance enforced (>90%)
[ ] New resource provisioning has cost estimate
[ ] Cost approval process for large expenditures (>$X/month)
[ ] Quarterly FinOps review with leadership
RUN:
[ ] Automated budget enforcement (alerts + actions)
[ ] Policy-as-code for cost guardrails
[ ] Architecture reviews include cost impact analysis
[ ] Service catalogs with pre-approved, cost-efficient patterns
[ ] Procurement optimization (EDP, committed use discounts)
[ ] FinOps KPIs in engineering performance metrics
CURRENT PHASE: CRAWL / WALK / RUN
Step 5 — Capability 4: Organizational Alignment
ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT
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CRAWL:
[ ] Finance and engineering aware of cloud costs
[ ] Basic cost awareness training available
[ ] At least one person accountable for cloud costs
WALK:
[ ] Engineers can see cost impact of their services
[ ] Team leads review their team's cloud spend monthly
[ ] FinOps community of practice established
[ ] Cost optimization part of sprint planning
[ ] Cost included in architecture decision records
RUN:
[ ] Cost efficiency is a first-class engineering metric
[ ] Teams have cost targets and report against them
[ ] FinOps embedded in product/engineering culture
[ ] Cost-aware development practices in engineering handbook
[ ] FinOps certifications across finance and engineering
[ ] Continuous improvement feedback loops
CURRENT PHASE: CRAWL / WALK / RUN
Step 6 — Maturity Scorecard
MATURITY SCORECARD
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| Capability | Phase | Score (1-5) | Target Phase |
|-----------|-------|-------------|-------------|
| Cost Visibility | CRAWL/WALK/RUN | ___/5 | [target] |
| Cost Optimization | CRAWL/WALK/RUN | ___/5 | [target] |
| Cost Governance | CRAWL/WALK/RUN | ___/5 | [target] |
| Org Alignment | CRAWL/WALK/RUN | ___/5 | [target] |
| **Overall** | **___** | **___/5** | **___** |
Scoring: 1=Not started, 2=Crawl, 3=Walk, 4=Run, 5=Advanced Run
Step 7 — Improvement Roadmap
| Priority | Initiative | Phase Target | Effort | Savings Potential | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | [initiative] | CRAWL->WALK | [weeks] | $___/month | [quarter] |
| P2 | [initiative] | CRAWL->WALK | [weeks] | $___/month | [quarter] |
| P3 | [initiative] | WALK->RUN | [weeks] | $___/month | [quarter] |
Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |
Output Format
Produce a FinOps maturity report with:
- Current state overview with spend metrics
- Capability assessments per FinOps domain (crawl/walk/run)
- Maturity scorecard with current and target phases
- Savings opportunities with estimated dollar impact
- Improvement roadmap with prioritized initiatives