Advisory council

The Microsoft FinOps toolkit advisory council represents contributors, their contributions, and end consumers for each of the tools and resources included in the FinOps toolkit. The advisory council advocates for diverse perspectives and fosters a collaborative environment, bridging the gap between the governing board and the contributors and consumers. Advisory council members are typically technical leads of one or more tools and resources that have been contributed to the FinOps toolkit.

On this page:

• 💼 Responsibilities
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Composition
• 📑 Meetings

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💼 Responsibilities

The council is responsible for the following high-level areas:

• Advocacy: Representing the interests and concerns of contributors and consumers.
• Oversight: Reviewing and providing feedback on board decisions.
• Communication: Facilitating open and transparent communication between the governing board, contributors, and consumers.
• Contribution: Driving contributions in alignment with the vision and strategy outlined by the board as it pertains to each tool and resource.
• Support: Providing and facilitating help and support to unblock contributors and consumers.
• Recognition: Acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of community members to encourage continued engagement and contribution.

As part of support efforts, Council members are expected to facilitate Support escalations by:

• Reviewing and responding to new and unresolved issues and discussions related to their tool or resource at least once per week.
• Responding to Microsoft Support escalations within 2 business days.
• Responding to security investigations within 1 business day.

Council members are expected to facilitate resolving or looping in key contributors as needed to resolve the issue in accordance with the support process.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Composition

The advisory council consists of the following representative seats:

• Each tool and resource included in the toolkit
• Each Microsoft product family in the FinOps space:
  • Azure Advisor
  • Azure Carbon Optimization
  • Azure Monitor
  • Azure Resource Manager (including Management groups, Tags, Policy, Resource Graph, etc.)
  • Commerce (including Benefits, Cost Management, Pricing, etc.)
  • Microsoft Fabric (including Power BI, Data Factory, etc.)
• Each Microsoft team that provides direct, FinOps-focused support for customers:
  • Industry Solutions Division (consulting)
  • Customer Success Unit - CCX
  • Customer Success Unit - Infrastructure
  • Customer Success Unit - Data & AI
  • Azure Customer Experience - ISV & Digital Natives
  • Commerce - FastTrack
  • Developer Relations
  • Customer Support Services
• Any FinOps Certified Professional (no limit on number)

This currently includes the following people:

Seat	Member
Azure Optimization Engine	Helder Pinto
Bicep Registry	Vacant
FinOps alerts	Robel Mamecha
FinOps guide: Framework & FOCUS docs	Michael Flanakin
FinOps guide: Best practice library	Vacant
FinOps guide: MS Learn modules	Fernando Vasconcellos
FinOps guide: Interactive guides	Fernando Vasconcellos
FinOps guide: Review assessment	Fernando Vasconcellos
FinOps hubs	Brett Wilson
FinOps workbooks: Optimization	Arthur Clares
FinOps workbooks: Governance	Nicolas Teyan
Open data	Vacant
Power BI	Vacant
PowerShell	Vacant

Each seat can be filled by one and only one representative to ensure the council remains fair, balanced, and does not grow too large to be effective. The one exception is FinOps Certified Professionals who we believe have earned the right to contribute independently given their investment in certification and dedication to the FinOps space.

Individuals must meet the following criteria in order to attain a council seat:

1. Must align to a vacant seat on the council (listed above).
2. Must have detailed knowledge about the tool or resource to support consulting, technical support, or customer conversations, if needed.
3. Must engage with the community at least once per week, including customer calls.
4. Must dedicate and average of 2-4 hours per week to evolve, support, and evangelize their tool or resource.
5. Must participate in council meetings and discussions (synchronously or asynchronously).
6. Must attend at least one office hours per month.
7. Should be a FinOps Certified Practitioner.
8. Must attain a supermajority (two-thirds) board vote with no objections.

📑 Meetings

The advisory council does not have dedicated meetings at this time. The advisory council is expected to participate (synchronously or asynchronously) in weekly FinOps toolkit sync calls on Wednesdays at 3 PM UTC or FinOps hubs sync calls on Mondays at 3:30 PM UTC. Meetings will be recorded to support asynchronous collaboration for those not able to join. Contributors and active community members may request to join these calls or view recordings as desired.

The advisory council is also invited to the monthly governing board meetings; however, attendance is optional.