FinOps for SaaS: Adopting FOCUS

This Paper is Part 3 of a three-part series on FinOps for SaaS. Use this Paper to learn how to adopt FOCUS™ (FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification), and learn how to convince your SaaS provider to conform to the FOCUS Specification.

• Part 1: Introduction to FinOps for SaaS
• Part 2: Applying the FinOps Framework to SaaS
• Part 3: FinOps for SaaS: Adopting FOCUS (You are here)

FinOps for SaaS & FOCUS

FOCUS is an open-source specification that defines clear requirements for technology providers to produce consistent billing datasets, such as public cloud, data cloud, infrastructure, and SaaS providers.

Supported by the FinOps Foundation, FOCUS reduces complexity for FinOps Practitioners so they can drive data-driven decision-making and help organizations realize the value of their technology investments. This specification is designed to help organizations manage their spending more effectively by ensuring billing data is collected and normalized consistently. It is especially valuable for SaaS buyers who need consistent data to optimize cost, usage, and performance across multiple software solutions.

The FOCUS specification offers SaaS buyers a powerful set of tools to unify and normalize billing  data, enabling them to better manage, monitor, and optimize their technology investments. By adopting this specification, SaaS providers can demonstrate their commitment to transparency and empower their customers to make data-driven purchasing decisions.

For more information about the key elements of the FOCUS specification that are particularly useful for companies purchasing SaaS visit the FOCUS website.

Unified Billing and Usage Data

FOCUS simplifies how companies view and analyze their SaaS expenditures by normalizing billing and usage data across different vendors. This is essential when working with multiple SaaS providers, as it eliminates the need for time-consuming data wrangling across diverse formats and terminologies. For example, FOCUS Columns such as BilledCost, UsageQuantity, and AmortizedCost allow businesses to measure and compare costs uniformly across services​.

Transparency and Predictability

The standard requires detailed reporting on both actual and amortized costs, helping SaaS buyers make informed decisions based on predictable expense structures. This transparency is critical for managing large portfolios of SaaS tools, where understanding costs associated with each service allows businesses to adjust consumption and optimize budgets.

Actionable Insights

FOCUS supports multi-provider compatibility, offering a consistent data format that can be applied to a wide variety of analytics tools. This compatibility enables companies to track key SaaS metrics (like utilization and efficiency) more easily and create actionable insights that can drive cost-saving initiatives or justify increased investments where necessary​.

Real-Time Monitoring

With FOCUS, companies can ingest billing data into their internal analytics systems or BI tools, allowing for real-time monitoring of SaaS consumption. This capability is crucial for optimizing SaaS usage based on current data and adjusting services before costs spiral out of control​.

Cross-Provider Comparability

FOCUS allows companies to compare costs across different SaaS providers consistently, reducing vendor lock-in risks. By having a common specification, SaaS buyers can compare solutions not only on features but also on cost and usage efficiency, leading to better procurement decisions and the ability to negotiate contracts based on transparent cost structures.

Conclusion

The FOCUS specification offers SaaS buyers a powerful set of tools to unify technology billing data, enabling them to better manage, monitor, and optimize their investments. By adopting this standard, SaaS providers can demonstrate their commitment to transparency and empower their customers to make data-driven purchasing decisions.

Get Involved

• Join the FOCUS Project
• Letter template to request FOCUS conformance from SaaS provider
• See Vendors Currently Supporting FOCUS™

Acknowledgments

We’d like to thank the following people for their work on this Paper:

Ron Brill

Anglepoint

Rich Gibbons

Synyega

George Arezina

TAKEDA

Victoria Levy

Alteryx

Lorant Kiss

Delivery Hero

Mike Coates

Emirates

Juan Van Heerden

Lloyds Banking Group

Keith Hiszem

Cardinal Health

Amy Ashby

Under Armour

Laura Mills

BeaconPoint

Colin Jack

Flexera

Sumaira Nazir

Platform.sh

Kris Wong

Surveil

Robert Nieuwenhuizen

McKinsey

Stephen Old

Synyega

Salomé Keet

FNB South Africa

Gregory Brinkerhoff

Oracle