At 30 years old, Sherilyn Kamga is one of the rising stars in a still little-known sector at the intersection of finance and technology: FinOps. With a smile on her face, the young Franco-Cameroonian who works for Talend, the global leader in data integration and data management, never restrains her enthusiasm when it comes to explaining her activity and its importance.
The term FinOps is one of those new words that will gradually enter the language of business and finance. This activity that did not exist ten years ago is the product of the cloud revolution and its impact on companies. At the origin of FinOps, there is another revolution: cloud computing.
But this emerging technology poses a problem that Sherilyn Kamga, a graduate in management science from the Jean Moulin University of Lyon, explains: "Migrating and working in a cloud environment can involve a very rapid increase in costs if they are not strictly controlled". She continues: "A company may end up paying for underutilized services or resources, leading to unnecessary costs. Thus, the need arises for diligent tracking and optimization of usage and costs-enter FinOps. FinOps addresses crucial questions: What resources and quantities are required? What trade-offs must be considered? How are these resources utilized daily? These are the inquiries FinOps expertly addresses."
How does someone with a background predominantly rooted in Paris end up not only discussing FinOps, but also playing a crucial role within a prominent cloud-first software company based in Silicon Valley? For Sherilyn, Asia seemed more inherently logical and compelling.
Having embarked on the journey of learning Chinese Mandarin during high school, Sherilyn swiftly completed the HSK Level 3 examination-a language proficiency test comparable to the TOEFL for Mandarin. She then moved to Shanghai to work as a logistics manager for Sergent Major, the French leader in children's apparel. Following her time in Shanghai and a brief return to France, she eagerly set her sights on San Francisco, marking the beginning of her next significant professional chapter. Destination: Talend. The company is a recognized leader in the data integration industry and earns consistent recognition in the Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Data Integration Tools.
At Talend, Sherilyn honed her expertise in FinOps, starting with her pivotal role in the company's financial planning and analysis team. Her mission revolved around providing vital financial support to the research and development as well as the cloud departments, bolstering their financial strategies and ensuring seamless execution of their respective missions.
The responsibility of FinOps extends to both the CloudOps team and the finance team, with the potential for collaboration and joint ownership between the two. For Sherilyn: "While being an engineer is not a prerequisite, a comprehensive understanding of the technical domain is crucial to grasp all facets of the discipline and make informed trade-offs."
The path of a FinOps specialist begins with practical experience or attaining a certification that enables them to comprehend the practices specific to their cloud environment provider. For instance, AWS provides the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification, Microsoft offers the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam, and the Google Digital Leader certification serves as an excellent entry point to explore the offerings of the renowned Mountain View company.
But, as Sherilyn Kamga indicates, "The degree itself is not an ultimate goal, as a FinOps expert must possess a profound understanding of their platform's monitoring tools and proficiently utilize data analysis tools to monitor their company's daily consumption." She further emphasizes that, as a general practice, the development of a meaningful FinOps strategy necessitates collaboration and involvement of all stakeholders within the company, rather than being solely formulated in isolation by the FinOps analyst.
These stakeholders can establish a FinOps Center of Excellence, tasked with documenting internal best practices and drawing inspiration from external sources. For companies lacking the resources to establish an in-house FinOps team, there remains the option of outsourcing the financial management of their cloud operations. Specialized providers such as Cloudkeeper, CloudZero and Finout offer expertise in this domain, enabling organizations to leverage their services effectively.
The design and implementation of a FinOps strategy holds immense significance for a company, exerting a profound impact on its operations. Tirelessly advocating for her field, Sherilyn Kamga emphasizes that FinOps enables companies to achieve cost savings in their cloud infrastructure, enhance project tracking, optimize resource utilization, and expedite digital transformation while exercising cost control. Leveraging her experience at Talend and her career trajectory, she endeavors to attract new enthusiasts to the discipline, embodying a destiny akin to that of a revered priestess.
