Developing a FinOps-Compliant Reference Architecture for Cloud ELT Pipelines

This study addresses the critical challenge of escalating and unpredictable cloud data warehousing costs associated with Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) pipelines. The purpose of this research is to develop a FinOps-compliant reference architecture specifically designed for cloud-native ELT pipelines to ensure cost efficiency, financial accountability, and operational excellence. The methodology employed is a design science research (DSR) approach, leveraging an extensive literature review on FinOps, cloud cost management, and data pipeline best practices, followed by the design, development, and expert validation (via a modified Delphi technique) of the proposed reference architecture. Key findings indicate that integrating specificFinOps capabilities namely, Cost Allocation, Cloud Resource Optimization (CRO), and Anomaly Detection as first-class citizens within the pipeline design dramatically reduces wastage and improves cost forecasting. The resulting FinOps-Compliant ELT Reference Architecture (F-ELT-RA) emphasizes a tiered storage strategy, serverless compute for transformation, and granular tagging/monitoring. The conclusion is that a prescriptive, FinOpsfocused architectural design is essential for effective data governance and achieving tangible Return on Investment (ROI) from cloud data initiatives.