The FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification (FOCUS™) is an open technical specification for cloud billing data that defines clear requirements for cloud vendors to produce uniform cost and usage datasets.
The FOCUS Project kicked off in 2023 with the goal of establishing a common format and terminology for billing datasets that were produced by cloud vendors.
FOCUS 1.0 gave FinOps Practitioners the ability to merge billing data from multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) without applying proprietary normalization schemas.
FOCUS 1.1 adds new columns that deepen support for billing data generated by cloud service providers, giving FinOps Practitioners the ability to do more granular multi-cloud analysis on that multi-cloud data. This release also improves metadata to better support Extract Transform Load (ETL) processes, and includes normative changes for some existing FOCUS columns
FOCUS 1.2 was ratified by the FOCUS Steering Committee on May 29, 2025. It helps to satisfy these use cases::
Cloud+ unified reporting
- Combine SaaS, PaaS, and Cloud billing in one schema, so a single dashboard or SQL query now covers Practitioners’ scope of responsibility and reduces potential for duplicate charges.
SaaS / PaaS | Virtual currency lifecycle
- Analyze credit and token purchase patterns to confirm commitments match demand.
- Track burn-down daily, forecast exhaustion, and avoid surprise overages.
- Rank charge categories that drive token consumption and target high-consumption drivers.
- Compare discounted vs. list token rates to quantify contract savings and identify future optimization opportunities.
Learn about FOCUS and the latest updates in Version 1.1.
Adoption of the Specification
Billing data generators can now begin updating their offerings to align with version 1.1. Practitioners should expect that adoption of the Specification will happen at a different pace for each vendor.
Practitioner Adoption
With the launch of FOCUS 1.0 in June 2024, FinOps Practitioners can get cloud billing data in the FOCUS format from the largest Cloud Service Providers. That milestone marked the first time that Practitioners could merge billing data from these sources without applying any proprietary normalization schemas. Practitioners are beginning to use these uniform datasets to uncover insights that inform decision-making when performing FinOps Capabilities.
Vendor Adoption
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Alibaba Cloud, and Tencent have released support for FOCUS datasets.
FinOps vendors are also adopting the requirements of the Specification and its terminology for their tools and service offerings.
Release Planning and Roadmap
The FOCUS Steering Committee and Maintainers are now engaging in roadmap development and release planning.
Vendors and Practitioners can expect incremental releases over the next several years as the Specification is expanded to provide the data elements necessary to perform additional FinOps Capabilities and integrate additional types of IT spending.
