Find Your FinOps Tools

Before moving forward, it helps to get everyone in the buying group aligned. What should the tool cover in phase one? What’s planned for phase two? And just as important—what’s not part of the scope? Laying this out early keeps things on track and avoids confusion later. 

Once the responses are in, it’s time to dig into the details. Some things—like feature coverage—are easy to measure.  

Others, like company background, technical fit or UI design, are more subjective and often lead to deeper discussions. That’s normal. But you also need to compare these qualitative criteria somehow. You can end up with a table like this: 

This helps you narrow down your top three FinOps tool vendors to invite for presentations. 

Vendor presentations help bring each offer to life. It’s a chance to meet the team behind the tool and get a closer look at the product. You should use these sessions to:  

• Get an impression of the vendor’s people and expertise  

• Explore the tool’s user interface and operating concept  

• Validate key requirements and tool KPIs 

• Preview upcoming features  

• Clarify open questions for both sides  

• Discuss project costs and resource needs  

Sometimes a demo isn’t enough. If there are still question marks or trust gaps, a proof-of-concept (POC) can help. These usually take one to three days and require time and focus from both sides. They’re most useful when they follow a clear plan and test real use cases that matter to your team. Make sure to:  

• Define clear objectives  

• Identify test cases  

• Create a structured test plan with a timeline  

Congrats - you now have identified the top vendors you want to enter the negotiation phase with and come to a decision. So, let's move on to the next phase.