Gordon Douglass of SAP NS2 Discusses Managing Commitments, Anomalies & Regulations in FinOps
What does FinOps look like in highly regulated industries? And why is speed so critical when managing commitments and anomalies?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Gordon Douglass, VP of Cloud Assets & Risk Management at SAP NS2, to talk about the real-world challenges of running FinOps in government and enterprise-scale environments.
Gordon shares why commitments are one of the scariest parts of FinOps, how to balance anomaly detection with meaningful action, and what it means to wear “many hats” as a FinOps leader. He also explains how regulations, procurement, and engineering collaboration add layers of complexity — and how to navigate them successfully.
Here’s what we talked about:
Why commitments can make or break FinOps strategy
How to balance speed and accuracy in anomaly detection
What FinOps looks like in regulated industries like government cloud
The “many hats” of a FinOps practitioner and leader
Lessons from SAP NS2’s approach to cloud cost management
Quote of the Show:
“We have regular cadences both internally within my group itself in addition to that also with engineering and operations, just to see and make sure that they understand or can justify what’s going on. “ - Gordon Douglass
Links:
Website: https://sapns2.com/
In this episode of FinOps in Action, Gordon Douglass, VP of Cloud Assets & Risk Management at SAP NS2, shares how FinOps works in highly regulated industries. He explains why commitments are so challenging, how to balance speed with accuracy in anomaly detection, and the complexities of navigating cloud costs under strict regulations.