266: AWS Billing Finally Comes into FOCUS

266: AWS Billing Finally Comes into FOCUS

Author: Justin Brodley, Jonathan Baker, Ryan Lucas and Matt Kohn | Cloud Computing & AI News July 3, 2024 Duration: 1:06:13

Welcome to episode 265 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! It’s a full house this week – Matthew, Jonathan, Ryan and Justin are all here to bring you the latest in cloud news – including FOCUS features in AWS Billing, Magic Quadrants, and AWS Metis. Plus, we have an Andoid vs. Apple showdown in the Aftershow, so be sure to stay tuned for that! 

Titles we almost went with this week:

  • Tech reports show Gartner leads in the BS quadrant 
  • Oracle adds cloud and legal expenses to their FinOps hub
  • AWS Metis: Great chatbot, or Greek tragedy waiting to happen? 
  • The cloud pod rocks Cargo Pants 
  • A sonnet is written for FOCUSing on spend

A big thanks to this week’s sponsor:

We’re sponsorless! Want to reach a dedicated audience of cloud engineers? Send us an email, or hit us up on our Slack Channel and let’s chat! 

General News

01:40 Finops X

  • Recently Justin attended FinOps in beautiful and sunny San Diego – and if you weren’t there, you really should plan on attending next year. This year’s topics included:
    • Focus 1.0
    • State of Vendors
  • Conference size – they will most likely outgrow this particular conference center, seeing as how they’re either selling out or pretty close to it. 
  • Coolest thing about the conference – on stage all the biggies – TOGETHER. 
    • It’s great to see them all together talking about how they’re making Finops better, and introducing new things for Finops and not just saving them for their own conferences. 
  • Next Year  – Is Oracle going to be on stage next year? 

08:22 Justin – “The shift left of FinOps was a big topic. You know, how do we get visibility? How do we show people what things are going to cost? How do we make sure that, you know, people are aware of what they’re doing? And so I think, you know, it’s just a recognition that is important and just as important as security is your cost. And in some ways security is part of your cost story. Because if you bankrupt your company, that’s a pretty bad security situation.”

10:17 Introducing Managed OpenSearch: Gain Control of Your Cloud with Powerful Log Analysis 

  • Listen. We don’t really *care* about OpenSearch – but the reality is it’s taking over the world. Nobody is doing ElasticSearch anymore. 
  • Digital Ocean is launching Managed OpenSearch offering, a comprehensive solution designed for in depth log analysis, simplifying troubleshooting, and optimizing application performance. 
  • With Digital ocean you can Pinpoint and analyze log data with ease, customize log retention, enhance security and can scale with your business and receive forwarded logs from multiple sources including Digital Ocean droplets, managed databases, etc. 
  • Interested in pricing? You can find that here. Or, if you’d like to take a product tour, you can do that

Every week, the team behind The Cloud Pod gathers to sift through the constant stream of announcements from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Hosts Justin Brodley, Jonathan Baker, Ryan Lucas, and Matt Kohn bring their combined expertise to the table, translating complex platform updates and new service launches into practical insights. This isn't just a headline recap; it's a detailed analysis meant for engineers, architects, and tech leaders who need to understand the "why" and "how" behind the news. You'll hear them debate the real-world implications of the latest AI tooling, unpack FinOps strategies for managing costs, and track the evolving competitive landscape between the major providers. The conversation is grounded in years of hands-on experience, offering a perspective that goes beyond the press releases. Tuning into this weekly podcast provides a consistent, informed checkpoint for anyone whose work depends on the cloud. It’s a direct line to understanding the innovations and shifts that are actively reshaping how businesses build and scale technology, all from one of the most enduring voices in the space.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Cloud Pod | Weekly AI & Cloud News on AWS, Azure & GCP
Podcast Episodes
273: Phi-fi-fo-fum, I Smell the Bones of The Cloud Pod Hosts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:21
Welcome to episode 273 of The Cloud Pod, where the forecast is always cloudy! Hold onto your butts – this week your hosts Justin, Ryan, Matthew and (eventually) Jonathan are bringing you two weeks worth of cloud and AI n…
272: AI: Now with JSON Schemas! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:51
Welcome to episode 272 of The Cloud Pod! This week, Matthew and Justin are bringing you all the latest in cloud and AI news, including new updates to the ongoing Crowdstrike drama, JSON schemas, AWS vaults, and IPv6 addr…
271: AWS Deprioritizes 7 Services, Cloud Pod Hosts Prioritize Therapy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:48
Welcome to episode 271 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! Justin, Jonathan and Matthew are your hosts today as we discuss the latest news in cloud and AI, including earnings reports, Google’s…
270: The Cloud Pod Puts a Hex-LLM on all these AI Announcements [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:39
The Cloud Pod Puts a Hex-LLM on all these AI Announcements Welcome to episode 270 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! Jonathan, Ryan, Matt and Justin are your hosts today as we sort through al…
269: Crowdstrike: Does Anyone Know the Graviton of this Situation? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:45
Welcome to episode 269 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! Justin, Matthew and Ryan are your hosts this week as we talk about – you guessed it – the Crowdstrike update that broke, well, everyt…
267: Cloud Maturity – Still Rarer Than a Unicorn Sighting [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:33
Welcome to episode 265 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! This week, Jonathan, Ryan, and Justin are trying to keep cool in new WorkSpaces Pools, avoiding the Heatwave with Oracle’s new LLM, t…
265: Swing and a WIF [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:48
Welcome to episode 265 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! Justin and Matthew are with you this week, and even though it’s a light news week, you’re definitely going to want to stick around. W…
264: AWS Audit Manager: Because even AI needs a Babysitter! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:57
Welcome to episode 264 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! Justin, Jonathan, Ryan (and eventually) Matthew are all on hand this week – and *announcement noise* this week it’s the return of the…
263: Ticketmaster Gets a Snow Job – MFA Matters Folks! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:13
Welcome to episode 263 of the Cloud Pod Podcast – where the forecast is always cloudy! This week we’re diving into the world of Snowflake, including announcements from their latest conference and details about their rece…