In October 2024, the NIS2 Directive came into effect, significantly expanding the scope of critical infrastructure entities and strengthening cybersecurity requirements. For many Ukrainian companies working with European clients or integrated into European supply chains, this necessitates adapting IT strategies, particularly concerning cloud cost management and security. By 2026, with the proliferation of multi-cloud architectures, controlling cloud financial flows and ensuring regulatory compliance will become increasingly critical.
NIS2 and its impact on cloud spending
The NIS2 Directive mandates organizations to implement comprehensive cybersecurity risk management measures, covering supply chain security, incident management, business continuity, and the protection of network and information systems. In multi-cloud environments, this means companies must ensure transparency, control, and security for their data and applications distributed across various cloud providers. Additional requirements for auditing, monitoring, and reporting can lead to increased operational costs if effective FinOps (Financial Operations) approaches are not adopted.
NIS2 compliance requires not only technical measures but also organizational changes that impact IT budgets. For instance, the need for enhanced monitoring and data encryption, the implementation of Zero Trust architectures, and regular security audits can substantially increase cloud service expenditures. Without proper management, these costs can become uncontrollable, underscoring the importance of integrating FinOps and cybersecurity.
Multi-cloud challenges and the role of FinOps
The use of multiple cloud providers (multi-cloud) has become standard practice in the enterprise segment. This approach allows companies to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize performance, and leverage geographic distribution of services. However, it also complicates cost management. Fragmented data on resource consumption, diverse pricing models, and a lack of centralized control make budget forecasting and optimization challenging. Typical issues include:
- Cost opacity: Difficulties in aggregating and analyzing cost data from various providers.
- Inefficient resource utilization: Over-provisioning of resources, idle instances, outdated snapshots.
- Lack of accountability: Blurred responsibility for cloud costs among development, operations, and finance teams.
- Forecasting complexity: Difficulty in accurately predicting future expenses due to the dynamic nature of cloud services.
FinOps, as an operational model, unites finance, engineering, and business teams to make collaborative decisions regarding cloud expenditures. Its goal is to maximize the business value of cloud investments while ensuring financial accountability and transparency.
AI in FinOps: A New Level of Optimization
The integration of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning (ML) into FinOps is transforming the approach to cloud cost management. AI-driven FinOps enables the automation of large-scale data analysis on resource consumption, anomaly detection, cost forecasting, and real-time optimization recommendations. This is particularly valuable in multi-cloud environments where the volume of data is too extensive for manual processing.
Key capabilities of AI-driven FinOps:
| AI Capability | Description and Benefits |
|---|---|
| Cost Forecasting | AI models analyze historical data and current trends to accurately predict future costs, aiding in budgeting. |
| Anomaly Detection | Automatic identification of unexpected cost spikes or inefficient resource usage, which may indicate configuration errors or cyberattacks. |
| Resource Optimization | AI recommends optimal instance sizes, storage types, reservation strategies (Reserved Instances, Savings Plans), and automatically scales resources. |
| Compliance Management | AI systems can monitor configurations for adherence to internal policies and regulatory requirements (e.g., NIS2), alerting to potential violations. |
| Report Automation | Generation of detailed reports on costs, usage, and compliance, significantly reducing manual operations. |
Thanks to AI, FinOps teams can shift from reactive management to a proactive approach, anticipating issues and maximizing the efficiency of cloud investments.
Member company solutions and technologies
Intecracy Group members offer a comprehensive approach to implementing AI-driven FinOps, addressing both economic efficiency and cybersecurity requirements, including NIS2. The SL Global Service team specializes in cloud migration, architecture, and FinOps, helping clients build transparent and controllable multi-cloud environments. They provide services for cloud cost optimization, DevOps/CI/CD practice implementation, and managed services with SLA, ensuring the high level of cybersecurity required for NIS2 compliance.
In turn, Softengi complements these solutions with its expertise in developing AI systems and AI agents. Their developments integrate into FinOps platforms for automated analysis of cloud costs, forecasting, and anomaly detection. For example, Softengi’s AI components can analyze resource usage patterns, identify potential security risks affecting costs, and provide recommendations for their mitigation. This allows clients not only to save money but also to enhance their cyber resilience.
Softline ensures the system integration and comprehensive implementation of these solutions. The company integrates FinOps tools with the client’s existing IT infrastructure and provides cybersecurity services, including the construction of information security systems for the Ukrainian public sector, which is crucial for companies falling under NIS2 requirements. The collaborative efforts of these companies enable the creation of robust, efficient, and secure multi-cloud architectures where cost management and regulatory compliance are integral parts of operational processes.
Implementing AI-driven FinOps in a multi-cloud environment is essential for companies aiming to optimize costs and ensure compliance with enhanced cybersecurity requirements, particularly the NIS2 Directive. This approach not only achieves significant savings but also increases business resilience against cyber threats, ensuring transparency and control over all aspects of the cloud infrastructure.