In many organizations, IT Financial Management (ITFM) is still treated like a static process—an annual budget exercise followed by monthly forecasts. That might have worked when IT spending was predictable. But with the rise of dynamic cloud services and usage-based pricing, that approach is quickly reaching its limits.
Enter FinOps. Teams everywhere are adopting it to get a grip on cloud spend. But here’s the thing: while FinOps brings visibility into cloud costs, it’s not enough. To manage the total cost of IT - and deliver real business value - you need a broader strategy. That’s where ITFM comes in.
Let’s explore how ITFM and FinOps complement each other and why you shouldn’t have to choose between them.
But they focus only on cloud—and that’s the problem. Your IT spend doesn’t stop at the cloud. To make informed decisions, you need visibility across all IT services, platforms, and contracts - not just one slice.
Our recent survey with Research in Action shows the current situation. We asked 1,000 IT and business leaders across North America and Europe how they integrate cloud costs into their ITFM: 38% don't have a solution yet. They either don’t do this at all, do it manually or start to think about doing it (see figure 1).
Figure 1
That sounds like 62% already have solved this problem. Not really, as you can see in our next question (see figure 2). 78% reported that cloud cost integration is still a challenge they must solve.
Figure 2:
The takeaway? Companies recognize that managing cloud and overall IT spend together is the future - and they’re making moves to get there.
Gartner’s latest Market Guide for IT Financial Management Tools confirms what we’re seeing:
CIOs aren’t just chasing savings. They’re being asked:
That’s exactly what ITFM tools are built to answer.
Instead of juggling tools and spreadsheets, you gain one connected view, on-prem, cloud, and beyond.
Gartner, Market Guide for IT Financial Management Tools, Robert Naegle, April 28, 2025.
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