FinOps & process
FOCUS
The FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification. It is an open, vendor-neutral standard for the shape of a provider's cost and usage export. The FinOps Foundation maintains it.
Last updated
Definition
FOCUS defines a common set of column names, data types, and required values for billing data. A query written against one provider's FOCUS export mostly works against another's. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all publish a FOCUS export today. Coverage and the exact version differ by provider.
FOCUS standardizes the shape of the data. It does not say where the data lives or how you monitor it. A provider must still turn the export on. Something must still pull it, join it with every other provider you use, and alert on it. A normalized cost view fills that gap.
Where it shows up
FOCUS shows up as a specific export format that you can enable in a provider's billing console. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud each publish a FOCUS-formatted export next to their native billing export. The FinOps Foundation's published specification defines the common column names.
What makes it expensive
Do not assume that a FOCUS export alone gives you visibility. The spec standardizes only the shape of the data. It does not decide where the data lives or who reviews it. Enabling the export is one checkbox. You still pull it from every provider, join it, and alert on it. The standard leaves that work to you.
Related
The invoice is a lagging signal.
A monthly invoice tells you what already happened. CostMon builds a daily baseline, so a spike stands out while you can still act on it.