Equifax is a global data, analytics and technology company that acquires and transforms raw data into timely, relevant and reliable insights for businesses and consumers.

As the shift from on-premises infrastructure to cloud computing continues worldwide, organisations have to rethink their approach to financial management. With a lack of visibility and control over costs as a primary challenge, traditional methods for managing financial resources have proved unsuitable in the cloud environment.

Equifax recognised the need to enhance financial performance and drive business innovation as they embarked on a global digital transformation journey. Equifax invested in cloud-based technology featuring the latest data management and analytics capabilities. Equifax sought to find a way to predict and optimise cloud spending while simultaneously maximising business value. In 2020, Equifax adopted a set of practices and principles known as FinOps to enhance the financial performance of their cloud computing infrastructure and drive business value to customers.

FinOps is an operational framework and cultural shift that brings technology, finance and business teams together to achieve unified company goals. It enables organisations to make data-driven decisions about their cloud spending and to create a culture of financial accountability and collaboration. Crucial to its success is a collaborative approach, which brings together multi-disciplinary teams with shared responsibilities.

The FinOps framework empowered Equifax to gain visibility into cloud spending, optimise resource usage, and establish governance and collaboration mechanisms across teams. In the 2nd quarter of 2021, the framework was piloted within the Australian/New Zealand technology team. Upon proving successful, FinOps was scaled across the organisation.

Successful execution of FinOps demanded careful planning to ensure seamless management, monitoring and control. Equifax initiated this process by assembling a dedicated FinOps team comprising representatives from architecture, finance and engineering. 

Automation and data analytics were leveraged to create cloud consumption data dashboards that tracked the progress of their business, finance and technology teams. Business leaders used dashboards and monthly reports to advance the practice of shared accountability and responsibility, using tangible metrics such as revenue per cloud cost spent and alerts for exceeding the cloud cost threshold for any given spend.

The outcome of FinOps has been a reduction in cloud costs by millions of dollars annually, amplifying the business value of cloud services and driving efficient growth. In its first year, FinOps slashed cloud costs by 50%, delivering an annualised saving of $1.8m. Over the subsequent two years, optimisation opportunities continued to be identified, resulting in enhanced cloud revenue efficiency at the whole cloud and product level, including a 50% reduction in the unit cost of key products.

Improved cost visibility has helped Equifax facilitate informed decisions about cloud expenditure and enabled the capitalisation of cloud set-up costs. Establishing a forecast model based on consistent deployment practices has improved the accuracy of predicting future expenditures within a variance of only 3%, enabling better budget planning and allocation.

In a dynamic digital landscape, FinOps has enabled Equifax to collaborate cross-functionally to understand key metrics aligned with business objectives and their connections to different parts of the user journey. 

Beyond the social and economic benefits, FinOps is aiding Equifax in reducing its environmental footprint by curbing its carbon emissions. For every cost-saving in the cloud facilitated by FinOps, there’s a corresponding reduction in energy consumption, as unnecessary power isn’t utilised. As Equifax continues to decommission data centres, reduce on-site technology, and invest in renewable energy as part of its cloud journey, FinOps will be another driver toward achieving its sustainability objectives.

Guided by continuous learning and improvement, FinOps is becoming increasingly integrated into company strategy and culture. Testament to their leadership and commitment to business innovation, FinOps is an ever-evolving catalyst for growth within Equifax.

For information about Equifax, visit equifax.com.au