FinOps and ITAM: A unified approach to optimizing technology investments – Enterprise License Optimization Blog
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Spend management by vendor
The future is hybrid. Break down the walls between ITAM and FinOps to drive more revenue, more customer growth and mo…
What do transformative initiatives such as GenAI, machine learning and sustainability mean for the cloud? Check out the 2024…
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Find a curated series of actionable and objective insights for IT executives and their teams. Get expert insights from…
How are ITAM professionals optimizing IT assets? Check out the 2024 State of ITAM Report to discover the latest trends.
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The unparalleled synergy of Flexera and Snow provides the Technology Intelligence you need for more efficiency, insight and…
FinOps
The way organizations manage technology investments is undergoing a fundamental shift. For years, ITAM and FinOps teams have operated in silos —ITAM focused on compliance for large software publishers, while FinOps has managed cloud costs. But with SaaS sprawl and the explosion of AI applications driving an exponential increase in cloud resource consumption, this siloed approach to managing technology costs no longer makes sense. Enterprises need continuous, real-time visibility into their technology spend, from cloud resources to software licenses, to ensure they’re optimizing costs without sacrificing agility.
FinOps is the fastest growing discipline for cloud cost management, yet the challenges it seeks to solve—spend visibility, optimization, governance—extend far beyond the cloud.
We recently acquired Spot by NetApp to expand our capabilities in multi-cloud cost optimization and FinOps for AI. Yet, many organizations still struggle to answer fundamental questions like, “What technology services are we using?” and “Why are our cloud costs so high?” Our acquisition of Spot reinforces our commitment to providing organizations with a comprehensive view of their technology spend and risk across the entire IT landscape. This will allow organizations and partners to:
Image credit: The FinOps Foundation
The FinOps Foundation recently highlighted the rapid evolution of FinOps with the FinOps Foundation’s Scopes initiative, which extends the FinOps framework beyond public cloud to encompass SaaS and data centers. This shift reflects a broader industry trend: cost management can no longer be confined to cloud resources alone. According to a FinOps Foundation poll, a majority of FinOps practitioners across the globe are already managing SaaS and other technology costs in addition to public cloud spending:
Image and Research Credits: FinOps Foundation September 2024 Poll Results
SaaS management is at the top of the list. And while SaaS is the first non-cloud component in the FinOps framework, optimizing SaaS shares many challenges with public cloud environments. SaaS applications are often acquired outside traditional procurement channels, such as through cloud marketplaces or with corporate credit cards. According to the 2025 IT Priorities Report, 68% of IT decision-makers say that their business units are procuring far more cloud and SaaS than IT knows about.
This results in “shadow SaaS,” much like the shadow IT issues we’ve been addressing in cloud environments. SaaS pricing structures vary widely: they may be based on consumption, users/devices, flat rates, or even tied to additional features of another related service. In the same report, 26% of leaders think they are overspending on SaaS applications.
But accurately tracking SaaS usage and managing the variety of licensing and pricing models can be complex and error-prone, leading to challenges with both cost optimization and license compliance. That’s where Flexera’s SaaS Management solution, paired with our cloud license management capabilities, steps in. Together, they allow you to:
This optimization—often known as Bring Your Own License (BYOL), as opposed to Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO)—offers the potential for significant savings. For example, utilizing BYOL within the Azure Hybrid Use Benefit model allows organizations to repurpose existing licenses, avoiding unnecessary spending.
Looking back at the FinOps Foundation poll, we also see around 40% of FinOps professionals are now involved in optimizing data center resources. In the past, organizations have followed a “tech refresh” model, replacing hardware every 3-5 years to reduce support issues and stay aligned with technological advances. However, this approach is both costly and inefficient.
Now that the FinOps framework extends to data centers, the focus is on:
Flexera plays a key role in this area and our leadership in ITAM provides a unique advantage. Our cloud migration solution helps customers assess their on-premises or data center resource usage. We provide detailed analysis of how these resources interact with the applications they support by mapping the business functions and identifying the interdependencies of resources and applications within the data center. Additionally, we offer cost estimations for migrating these on-premises workloads to the cloud and provide recommendations for optimizing costs across different cloud providers.
The days of separate ITAM and FinOps conversations are coming to an end. As enterprises increasingly rely on hybrid environments, CIOs, CFOs, and IT leaders need a comprehensive strategy that ensures not only financial governance but also effective asset optimization. The future lies in a platform-driven approach that unifies ITAM and FinOps, enabling IT teams to:
While FinOps has emerged as a critical discipline to optimize cloud spend, ITAM remains foundational for managing software and hardware costs on-premises and in SaaS environments. Although FinOps is often associated with agility and speed in managing cloud resources, ITAM ensures accountability and compliance across all technology investments. Organizations increasingly recognize that true cost optimization requires a holistic view—one that integrates the granular tracking of ITAM with the financial discipline of FinOps. We see these disciplines not as separate silos but as complementary forces working together to shape the future of tech cost management and governance.
As a leader in the ITAM space for decades, focused on enabling organizations to optimize their technology spend, we closely monitored the FinOps discipline as it began to evolve and take shape. We quickly realized the growing need for cross-disciplinary collaboration between ITAM and FinOps and have designed and developed our products to excel in these areas. Flexera’s FinOps solutions cover all FinOps Scopes, including cloud, SaaS, data center, and software licensing. We also support organizations at every stage of their FinOps journey—whether they are just starting (crawl), developing best practices (walk), or implementing advanced strategies (run).
Technology is evolving rapidly—and it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends and critical insights. Check out the latest blogs related to FinOps below.
FinOps
March 12, 2024
FinOps
February 22, 2023
FinOps
February 9, 2022
FinOps
FinOps
February 25, 2025
FinOps
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© 2025 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
source
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
Spend management by vendor
The future is hybrid. Break down the walls between ITAM and FinOps to drive more revenue, more customer growth and mo…
What do transformative initiatives such as GenAI, machine learning and sustainability mean for the cloud? Check out the 2024…
Support
Services & Training
Find a curated series of actionable and objective insights for IT executives and their teams. Get expert insights from…
How are ITAM professionals optimizing IT assets? Check out the 2024 State of ITAM Report to discover the latest trends.
Social responsibility
The unparalleled synergy of Flexera and Snow provides the Technology Intelligence you need for more efficiency, insight and…
FinOps
The way organizations manage technology investments is undergoing a fundamental shift. For years, ITAM and FinOps teams have operated in silos —ITAM focused on compliance for large software publishers, while FinOps has managed cloud costs. But with SaaS sprawl and the explosion of AI applications driving an exponential increase in cloud resource consumption, this siloed approach to managing technology costs no longer makes sense. Enterprises need continuous, real-time visibility into their technology spend, from cloud resources to software licenses, to ensure they’re optimizing costs without sacrificing agility.
FinOps is the fastest growing discipline for cloud cost management, yet the challenges it seeks to solve—spend visibility, optimization, governance—extend far beyond the cloud.
We recently acquired Spot by NetApp to expand our capabilities in multi-cloud cost optimization and FinOps for AI. Yet, many organizations still struggle to answer fundamental questions like, “What technology services are we using?” and “Why are our cloud costs so high?” Our acquisition of Spot reinforces our commitment to providing organizations with a comprehensive view of their technology spend and risk across the entire IT landscape. This will allow organizations and partners to:
Image credit: The FinOps Foundation
The FinOps Foundation recently highlighted the rapid evolution of FinOps with the FinOps Foundation’s Scopes initiative, which extends the FinOps framework beyond public cloud to encompass SaaS and data centers. This shift reflects a broader industry trend: cost management can no longer be confined to cloud resources alone. According to a FinOps Foundation poll, a majority of FinOps practitioners across the globe are already managing SaaS and other technology costs in addition to public cloud spending:
Image and Research Credits: FinOps Foundation September 2024 Poll Results
SaaS management is at the top of the list. And while SaaS is the first non-cloud component in the FinOps framework, optimizing SaaS shares many challenges with public cloud environments. SaaS applications are often acquired outside traditional procurement channels, such as through cloud marketplaces or with corporate credit cards. According to the 2025 IT Priorities Report, 68% of IT decision-makers say that their business units are procuring far more cloud and SaaS than IT knows about.
This results in “shadow SaaS,” much like the shadow IT issues we’ve been addressing in cloud environments. SaaS pricing structures vary widely: they may be based on consumption, users/devices, flat rates, or even tied to additional features of another related service. In the same report, 26% of leaders think they are overspending on SaaS applications.
But accurately tracking SaaS usage and managing the variety of licensing and pricing models can be complex and error-prone, leading to challenges with both cost optimization and license compliance. That’s where Flexera’s SaaS Management solution, paired with our cloud license management capabilities, steps in. Together, they allow you to:
This optimization—often known as Bring Your Own License (BYOL), as opposed to Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO)—offers the potential for significant savings. For example, utilizing BYOL within the Azure Hybrid Use Benefit model allows organizations to repurpose existing licenses, avoiding unnecessary spending.
Looking back at the FinOps Foundation poll, we also see around 40% of FinOps professionals are now involved in optimizing data center resources. In the past, organizations have followed a “tech refresh” model, replacing hardware every 3-5 years to reduce support issues and stay aligned with technological advances. However, this approach is both costly and inefficient.
Now that the FinOps framework extends to data centers, the focus is on:
Flexera plays a key role in this area and our leadership in ITAM provides a unique advantage. Our cloud migration solution helps customers assess their on-premises or data center resource usage. We provide detailed analysis of how these resources interact with the applications they support by mapping the business functions and identifying the interdependencies of resources and applications within the data center. Additionally, we offer cost estimations for migrating these on-premises workloads to the cloud and provide recommendations for optimizing costs across different cloud providers.
The days of separate ITAM and FinOps conversations are coming to an end. As enterprises increasingly rely on hybrid environments, CIOs, CFOs, and IT leaders need a comprehensive strategy that ensures not only financial governance but also effective asset optimization. The future lies in a platform-driven approach that unifies ITAM and FinOps, enabling IT teams to:
While FinOps has emerged as a critical discipline to optimize cloud spend, ITAM remains foundational for managing software and hardware costs on-premises and in SaaS environments. Although FinOps is often associated with agility and speed in managing cloud resources, ITAM ensures accountability and compliance across all technology investments. Organizations increasingly recognize that true cost optimization requires a holistic view—one that integrates the granular tracking of ITAM with the financial discipline of FinOps. We see these disciplines not as separate silos but as complementary forces working together to shape the future of tech cost management and governance.
As a leader in the ITAM space for decades, focused on enabling organizations to optimize their technology spend, we closely monitored the FinOps discipline as it began to evolve and take shape. We quickly realized the growing need for cross-disciplinary collaboration between ITAM and FinOps and have designed and developed our products to excel in these areas. Flexera’s FinOps solutions cover all FinOps Scopes, including cloud, SaaS, data center, and software licensing. We also support organizations at every stage of their FinOps journey—whether they are just starting (crawl), developing best practices (walk), or implementing advanced strategies (run).
Technology is evolving rapidly—and it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends and critical insights. Check out the latest blogs related to FinOps below.
FinOps
March 12, 2024
FinOps
February 22, 2023
FinOps
February 9, 2022
FinOps
FinOps
February 25, 2025
FinOps
Get updates delivered to your inbox
© 2025 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
source
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
