Case Study: WPP — Optimizing Cloud Costs with FinOps

Imagine you’re part of WPP, the world’s largest marketing and communications company. Your teams are handling massive amounts of client data, running global campaigns, and meeting tight project deadlines. To power all of this, WPP relies on cloud computing. But with over 100,000 employees across hundreds of agencies, tracking cloud costs across every project isn’t just a task—it’s a monumental challenge. For WPP, cloud spending was becoming a maze of unpredictable expenses, lacking the transparency needed to understand where costs were coming from and how they could be controlled.

To tackle this, WPP teamed up with IBM to implement a FinOps strategy focused on monitoring, optimizing, and allocating cloud costs more effectively (IBM Case Study on WPP). Together, they built an advanced cloud management platform that tracked expenses across WPP’s global teams, bringing real-time visibility into every dollar spent and every resource consumed. With FinOps principles—financial operations specifically for cloud cost management—WPP transformed cloud spending from a variable cost into a strategic, trackable investment.

The FinOps Transformation

With IBM’s FinOps solution, WPP implemented cloud cost controls at every level, empowering teams to understand, adjust, and reduce their spending as needed. Real-time monitoring and custom dashboards provided granular detail into which departments and projects were using cloud resources. Teams could see their usage patterns and quickly identify areas where costs were spiking, allowing them to take action before costs grew further.

But WPP’s transformation didn’t stop with cost visibility. With IBM’s help, they set up automated alerts for cost anomalies, meaning any unexpected spending spikes could be flagged immediately. This preventive approach helped teams address overspending before it impacted budgets, which was essential in such a vast, complex organization.

The impact? WPP reported significantly better control over their cloud spending, reducing waste and increasing cost predictability. The FinOps approach also brought cultural change: instead of treating cloud as an “invisible” IT cost, teams across WPP became more accountable for their usage, actively managing their budgets and aligning cloud costs with actual business value.

C4G’s Insight into Getting Started with FinOps

For companies dealing with unpredictable cloud costs like WPP, starting a FinOps journey begins by creating transparency and establishing accountability across teams. At C4G, we recommend first identifying the key areas where cloud expenses are concentrated—often, these are the foundational services or high-demand projects essential to your business. Focusing here helps build a clear roadmap for understanding and managing cloud usage at scale.

A centralized dashboard, as WPP implemented with IBM’s help, is transformative for visibility. Bringing finance, IT, and business teams together with a single source of data allows everyone to see how their activities impact cloud costs in real-time. In our experience, this kind of shared visibility turns cloud management from a complex IT function into an organization-wide practice. Teams understand their part in the bigger picture, fostering accountability across departments.

Proactive alert systems are another essential FinOps element. Just as WPP introduced alerts for spending spikes, we advise companies to set up automatic notifications for unusual activity. With timely alerts, teams can respond to unexpected costs quickly, preventing overspending from impacting larger budgets and forecasts.

But FinOps goes beyond tracking costs. Like WPP’s experience, a successful FinOps strategy creates cultural alignment. When teams see how their cloud usage aligns with budgetary goals, they start to make decisions with cost-effectiveness in mind. FinOps, ultimately, is about transforming cloud spending into an intentional, well-managed investment that supports the company’s strategic objectives.

With IBM’s guidance, WPP turned cloud cost management from an unpredictable expense into a proactive, manageable, and even strategic process. For them, FinOps didn’t just streamline cloud costs—it empowered teams across the organization to manage resources efficiently, turning cloud into a true asset for business growth.

Interested in learning how FinOps can bring clarity and control to your cloud spending? Reach out at insights@c4genterprises.com or book a chat with the C4G Team.