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 owners of one or more tools and resources that have been contributed to the FinOps toolkit.

On this page:

• 💼 Responsibilities
• 🤔 Making decisions
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 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.
• Execution: Executing the vision and strategy outlined by the board as it pertains to each tool and resource.
• Recognition: Acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of community members to encourage continued engagement and contribution.

Council members are also expected to facilitate Support escalations by:

• Reviewing new and unresolved issues and discussions related to their tool or resource at least once per week.
• Responding to issues and discussions about their tool or resource within 2 business days.
• 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.

🤔 Making decisions

While the council does not make explicit project decisions amongst themselves, their participation in governing board meetings and decisions is subject to the same decision making process and requirements.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 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 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 - 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
Cost optimization workbook	Seif Bassem
FinOps hubs	Brett Wilson
Governance workbook	Nicolas Teyan
PowerShell module	Anthony Romano
Learning resources	Fernando Vasconcellos

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

Advisory council meetings have not been established yet. Meetings will be recorded to support asynchronous collaboration for those not able to join. Governing board members are expected to join. Contributors and active community members may request to join these calls or view recordings as desired.