FinOps as Code: Automating and Visualizing Unit Economics

FinOps as Code provides a framework for automating and visualizing unit economics by integrating business metrics with cloud cost data, enabling organizations to better align cloud spending with business objectives. The process involves creating a pipeline that uses a Python script to query a PostgreSQL database for business metrics, such as total orders, and then updates these metrics daily via the Vantage API. This setup allows e-commerce companies to correlate cloud infrastructure costs with specific business activities, offering insights into cost fluctuations and their impact on per-unit costs. By scheduling the script with tools like cron jobs or Apache Airflow, businesses can maintain an ongoing analysis of their cloud expenditure in relation to order metrics, as demonstrated by the example of fluctuating costs on weekends and specific dates. The approach, detailed in the FinOps as Code demo repository, requires familiarity with SQL databases, Python, and the Vantage API, and emphasizes the value of understanding cloud costs in the context of unit economics for improved operational efficiency.