Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Data engineering. Data science. Machine learning. Data governance. These are just a few of the many capabilities that make Databricks a favorite among developers and data engineers. Yet, most have one common complaint — its cost. Some say it’s too expensive, especially for small and medium-sized organizations. Others find it hard to justify using the platform due to budget limits. In addition, maintaining and running data warehouses can be costly.

If you are reading this, you likely understand how Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can improve your organization, from operational efficiency to boosting your bottom line. Yet, setting up and running a robust AI infrastructure, including a massive dataset for training and specialized tools, can be expensive. Amazon Bedrock wants to simplify this challenge, enabling you to build generative AI applications faster and easier. But is Amazon Bedrock pricing worth it?

FinOps is one of the latest buzzwords in cloud computing. It’s a merger of two critical departments — finance and operations — and describes “cloud financial operations” (cloud financial management or cost management).

Cloud adoption brings agility and scalability, but without effective cost monitoring, cloud expenses can spiral out of control. Microsoft Azure offers robust budget monitoring tools to help businesses manage and optimize cloud spending. These tools enable real-time tracking, forecasting, and alerting for Azure budgets, ensuring efficient cost management and avoiding unexpected expenses.

As we step into 2025, we’re thrilled to reflect on the strides we’ve made in December and all throughout the last year to empower the FinOps and cloud cost management practices of our customers. These updates mark another milestone in our journey to continuously improve your experience, providing the insights and control you need to manage cloud costs efficiently.

Monitoring cloud costs can be complex. When those costs span more than one cloud service provider (CSP) or SaaS provider, that complexity can make it difficult to understand your overall spending. Datadog Cloud Cost Management (CCM) enables teams to understand cloud costs, but each provider tags its cost data differently. Teams need to understand each provider’s unique cost data model before they can make sense of their costs in each cloud.

It might not be anywhere near springtime yet, but it’s still the perfect time to plant seeds for your brand new (or redesigned, or fine-tuned …) cost management strategy for 2025. To make sure your foundation is solid as you move forward, take advantage of these helpful resources for building and refining your FinOps practice: Think of brushing up on all this knowledge as the business version of hitting the gym for the new year.