The cloud makes it easy to deploy infrastructure fast and get projects moving. But many government agencies don’t have the processes or controls in place to do it securely, with proper cost controls and accounting.
That same ease of use, in Oracle Cloud or any cloud, can lead to surprises: higher-than-expected bills, incorrect service setup, and security gaps.
As cloud adoption grows, so does the number of people involved. Some focus on developing cloud applications (Dev). Others focus on costs and savings (Fin).
DevFinOps integrates development, deployment, and financial processes into a single collaborative approach that improves efficiency, cost control, and innovation. It combines DevOps, which focuses on fast, collaborative software development and deployment, with FinOps, which focuses on financial accountability and cost management.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Overview
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) offers real value to government agencies that need robust infrastructure for mission-critical applications and initiatives. From computing, storage, and networking to analytics and AI/ML to the world’s leading database platform, OCI covers a full range of services. But once you decide to use OCI, the next question is how to use it securely and efficiently.
As government agencies roll out Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, having a solid footing in both areas helps them get the most out of their investment.
Concerns Agencies Face When Implementing OCI
As an agency adopts OCI, here’s what it needs to consider:
- Have I established my environment securely?
- Have I configured and used the built-in operational tooling to improve security and optimize the environment for ongoing maintenance?
- Have I configured secure connectivity to the agency’s end systems via VPN or direct connection?
- Have I enabled the appropriate compartments for ease of management?
- Do I have the operational support I need?
- Do I have the right infrastructure and application monitoring in place?
- Have I deployed the right incident management and resolution processes?
- Am I prepared to keep my systems patched and managed?
- Have I deployed the right security tools to prevent security incidents?
- Are my backups properly established, tested, and working?
- Do I have the high availability and disaster recovery I need?
- Do I have the financial monitoring, alerts, and reporting needed to properly account for usage and get the most from my investment?
- Have I established budgets and alerts?
- Am I controlling my costs?
- Can I initiate a chargeback and show what’s needed to ensure projects are properly accounted for?
These are complex topics. Mythics developed a DevFinOps Service to help customers set up the right environment from day one.
Mythics DevFinOps: Rolling Your Deployment Out Right and Managing Ongoing Costs
Mythics OCI DevFinOps Services, part of Mythics Managed Services, helps clients provision their OCI environment, enable key OCI features to improve their security posture, and manage the financial and technical sides of their OCI infrastructure.
Here’s what’s included:
OCI Onboarding
- Standard tenancy instantiation
- Set up secure communication with the agency’s on-premise environment or environment in other clouds
- Deployment of a Secure Landing Zone as a baseline for the implementation, using best practices with security built in from the start
Operational Support
We monitor your OCI-deployed resources and configure alerts that flow into our incident management system. When we’re alerted, our managed services team resolves issues using automated remediation, people, and process.
- Infrastructure and OS monitoring
- Incident management
- Incident resolution
- Patching of infrastructure and OS
- Improved security posture through CloudGuard configuration and Secure Landing Zone deployment
- Backup management
FinOps capability
We help you configure key components of OCI’s cost management and governance features, including:
- Budgets and alerts, so you know where your spending is going and stay within budget
- Quota management within compartments
We also review cost-saving recommendations with you to get the most from every dollar of cloud spend, and help you build detailed consumption reports for chargeback or showback.
Summary
The cloud, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure especially, can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve services for constituents. But it’s critical to secure and manage that environment, including incident management and patching, and to control and report on costs efficiently. Mythics DevFinOps puts your agency on the right path. We’ve done this for many agencies. We understand the security and management requirements and know how to keep costs transparent and well-managed.
Contact us to schedule a conversation about Mythics OCI DevFinOps Services and start your project right.
