FinOps Certified Specialty Solutions have demonstrated that they have products or features that map to some FinOps Framework Domains and Capabilities. These solutions address one or more specific FinOps challenges.
Why get certified?
Validate your offer: Buyers trust the Foundation as a neutral party with no stake in positioning one tool over another. So, when shopping, buyers visit the FinOps Landscape to see tools that have been validated by the Foundation to meet their unique set of needs.
Marketing: If your organization becomes a FinOps Certified Specialty Solution, this designation will be displayed on your Member Page and on the FinOps Landscape.
Increase FinOps expertise: This certification requires a number of individuals in your organization to become certified. Completing individual certifications increases the FinOps knowledge and expertise that your employees hold, in turn helping them deliver better FinOps tools to the market.
Certification Requirements
To become a FinOps Certified Specialty Solution, your organization must meet the requirements below.
| Pre-Requisites |
|
| Mandatory Requirements |
|
| Optional Requirements
(must meet 3 of 5) |
|
Individual Certification Requirements
A number of individuals in your organization must achieve the FinOps Certified Practitioner certification in order for your organization to become a FinOps Certified Specialty Solution. The number is based on your company size. For example, if your organization has 1200 people in it, then you need at least 35 individuals—who are actively working at the company—who have each achieved the FinOps Certified Practitioner certification. Note that one FinOps Certified Professional counts for five FinOps Certified Practitioners.
| Company Size | FinOps Certified Practitioners Required |
|---|---|
| 0-99 | 3 |
| 100-499 | 10 |
| 500-4999 | 35 |
| 5000+ | 50 |
The Company Size is determined by the parent organization size (which was used for defining your fee structure when you joined the Linux Foundation). Employee count is not based on the individual business unit. For example, a 100-person product team that is part of a 1500-person organization would fall into the 500-4999 tier, not the 100-499 tier.
Please contact member-cert@finops.org to start the certification process.
Q&A
What’s the difference between a FinOps Certified Platform and FinOps Certified Specialty Solution?
A FinOps Certified Platform is a full-service FinOps tool that addresses key use cases for a FinOps Practitioner. A FinOps Certified Speciality Solution is a FinOps tool that focuses on one (or few) very specific FinOps use cases such as rate optimization or container cost management.
See the list of current FinOps Certified Platforms and FinOps Certified Specialty Solutions on FinOps Landscape for examples.
What is an example of mapping tool features to FinOps Capabilities?
Here are a few examples of features that map to Framework Capabilities:
| Features / Functionality | Framework Capability |
| Anomaly Alert Functionality |
|
| Create and monitor budgets |
|
| Create Custom Metrics |
|
| Commitment-based discount reporting |
|
| Cost Allocation Model |
|
| Forecasting based on previous spend |
|
| Ingest 3rd Party Data
(either via API, CSV, manual input, etc) |
|
| Real-time cloud billing data reporting |
|
| Real-time cloud resource utilization reporting |
|
What is the definition of a contributor for a working group?
A contributor is defined as someone who is interested in the subject matter and is willing and able to participate in the WG. These individual are expected to perform the following duties:
- Regularly attend WG meetings (at least 50%)
- Actively contribute to WG efforts by taking on action items and participating in group discussions
- Assist working group lead with their duties as needed
- For additional details, see the Working Group FAQ