Federal agencies are under increasing pressure to deliver mission outcomes while operating within flat or declining budgets. As cloud adoption accelerates and technology environments grow more complex, leaders must move beyond traditional cost-cutting approaches and adopt more disciplined, data-driven models for managing IT spend. FinOps – cloud financial management that aligns with finance, technology, and mission stakeholders – has emerged as a critical capability for improving transparency, accountability, and decision-making across the federal enterprise.
Join the ACT-IAC IT Management & Modernization Community of Interest (ITMM COI) for an engaging discussion focused on FinOps and IT efficiency strategies in government. Federal and industry leaders will explore how agencies are gaining visibility into cloud and IT costs, implementing chargeback and showback models, and embedding financial accountability into modernization and AI initiatives. The conversation will examine practical approaches to optimizing spend without compromising performance, security, or mission delivery.
Panelists will share real-world lessons learned from federal FinOps implementations, including organizational and governance challenges, cultural change management, and the tools and data required to enable effective decision-making. Attendees will gain actionable insights into how FinOps can serve as a strategic enabler – helping agencies prioritize investments, maximize return on modernization efforts, and sustain innovation in an era of fiscal constraint.
Featured Speakers and Facilitators:
- Megan Sikora, Senior Account Manager, IBM (former GSA)
- Ron Williams, Director, Cloud Adoption & Infrastructure Optimization, GSA (invited)
- Rob Martin, FinOps Fellow, FinOps Foundation
- Moderator: Melvin Brown, Independent Consultant, CANI LLC; Former OPM CIO
About the Speakers
Megan Sikora, Sr Account Manager – Public Sector, Apptio
Megan Sikora is a Senior Account Manager at Apptio supporting the Public Sector group. She manages Healthcare and GovCloud/Federal accounts, helping agencies/companies align mission and strategic goals with Apptio’s technology and financial management solutions. Previously, Megan served as a Customer Success Advisor, driving strategic value and product adoption across Apptio’s portfolio.
Megan brings over 20 years of Federal experience, including roles at the General Services Administration, where she led IT budget formulation and cost transparency initiatives using the TBM framework and sat on the TBM Standards Committee; and at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she directed IT governance and FITARA implementation.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and business administration from Towson University and an MBA from Loyola College.
United States