The shift to the cloud created new professions, one of them is the role of FinOps Engineering. Ziva Tubul explains how keeping cloud costs down became an emerging engineering field

The appearance of new technologies always creates new professions, and just as the appearance of cars created the car mechanic, the shift from data centers to cloud storage created cloud experts. One of the lesser known of them is the FinOps Engineer.

Ziva Tubul wasn’t always into FinOps - a domain defined as the intersection of people, processes, and technology, as it relates to managing the financial operations of a business. She started her tech career at Intel where she was an Operations Engineer. Only a few years ago, while working on a big cloud cost reduction project at HP, she became hooked on the new emerging domain.

When Ziva got an offer from Wix earlier this year she didn’t hesitate. “The truth is I interviewed at three companies and was accepted to all of them,” she says with a smile. “So why didn’t I have any doubt which one of them I’d choose? First, because Wix had a great reputation. But then - only after I started my interviewing process here - I realized that it’s also a very powerful player in the Financial Operations (FinOps) Engineering field that I specialize in,” she says.

So what is FinOps and what do you do in your role?

“After companies began hosting all their data on the cloud and not on regular data centers, the old purchasing process of hosting space ceased to exist. While in the past companies purchased space and paid a flat fee for it, these days engineers are in charge of expenses that are now determined by usage. In this reality, FinOps people are the gatekeepers for cloud related expenses and those who bridge the gap between the developers who are in charge of expenses and the budgets that need to be controlled. This shift created a need for people who know how to use the cloud effectively and efficiently when it comes to costs. That’s what I do.”

So how do you do it?

“Basically, we’re a part of the strategic planning of our cloud usage. We analyze our costs and create predictions based on usage and growth rate. We negotiate with service providers over costs and we’re a part of every purchase process related to Wix’s infrastructure needs. We lead a cost optimization agenda and we educate and embed the FinOps culture into the organization so that engineers across Wix will create an efficient and cost effective process from the very beginning of their work.”

What does it take to be a FinOps Engineer?

“Since FinOps is the bridge between engineering and budget management, a FinOps engineer has to understand both the tech and financial realms. They need to have analytical skills, a familiarity with the production environment and a deep understanding of cloud architecture and infrastructure.

"On top of that, because we’re committed to embed the FinOps culture within the organization we work in, one of the most important skills a FinOps Engineer must have is the ability to motivate people and to lead processes.”

What are the main challenges?

“Since we’re at the intersection between finance and technology, we need to be on top of the latest technologies as they're changing very rapidly, and to constantly manage and optimize them. We’re always trying to be proactive: me and my manager - we’re only two in our team - are constantly thinking of ways to get people to address this subject. It means researching different models and checking out alternative services and asking questions like how picking a specific service serves Wix. Thinking in such a manner from the beginning saves us time and costs of fixing things later on.”

What’s your favorite part of the job?

“This domain is built out of a variety of things and it’s very diverse. It’s innovative and groundbreaking and we’re at a time where organizations understand the need for cost effective cloud management, so it’s an exciting place to be in. I love the fact that what I do directly influences Wix’s business and that each day I learn something new and grow. FinOps is a pretty new domain, and Wix is ahead of the curve. I joined 7 months ago but my manager has been doing it at Wix for 5 years. Other organizations are only beginning to understand that there’s a need for such a role.”