Redefining ROI: Why flexible IT consumption is reshaping business value

Despite record IT budgets, many organisations struggle to prove ROI. Gartner forecasts global IT spending will surpass $6 trillion for the first time in 2026, growing 9.8%, yet fewer than half of enterprise-wide digital initiatives achieve their intended business outcomes. The gap between ambition and measurable impact is widening and traditional procurement models are a major reason why. 

For decades, IT investment meant buying hardware, licensing software, and locking into long-term contracts. That model worked when technology cycles were predictable and workloads were steady. Today, it’s showing cracks. 

Why? Because demand is volatile, innovation moves faster than procurement cycles, and rigid contracts leave businesses paying for capacity they don’t use. Hardware refreshes take months, and scaling up for new projects or to adopt new technologies often means delays that stall delivery. Meanwhile, underutilised infrastructure, ungoverned cloud sprawl, and unexpected vendor charges drain resources.  IT risks being seen as a cost centre rather than a growth enabler. 

As a result, organisations spend more but achieve less. The old model needs a refresh. 

The ROI reality check 

Legacy IT models create inefficiencies that are hard to ignore. Rigid CapEx cycles, fragmented vendor relationships, and slow scaling make it impossible to respond quickly to changing business needs – and that kills ROI. 

Recent industry benchmarks show why flexible consumption models are gaining traction as an alternative. Enterprises adopting these models achieve between 25 – 35% lower total cost of ownership compared to traditional procurement approaches. They also benefit from faster infrastructure refresh, rapid innovation and reduced over-provisioning, which improves cost predictability and accelerates time-to-value. Looking ahead, IDC FutureScape predicts that by 2026, 75% of Global 1000 organisations will require value-based procurement, tying IT spend directly to business outcomes and speed of delivery. 

When infrastructure and services can scale up or down on demand, IT shifts from being a fixed asset to a strategic enabler.  

This refocus also reflects growing frustration with hyperscalers and a lack of control. Rising costs, opaque pricing, and restrictive licensing terms have eroded trust. Organisations now demand predictable costs, transparent pricing, and workload portability, which are all delivered by flexible consumption models. 

Motives beyond cost 

But cost isn’t the only driver behind this change. Geopolitical uncertainty, ESG commitments, and regulatory complexity are reshaping IT strategies. Data sovereignty rules are tightening, forcing organisations to rethink where and how workloads are hosted. Boards demand resilience against escalating cyber threats, making security a non-negotiable priority. Meanwhile, sustainability targets mean CIOs must justify every watt of power consumed and every tonne of carbon emitted. 

Traditional procurement models make this almost impossible. Flexible consumption models address these pressures by aligning IT spend with actual usage, reducing waste, and enabling rapid adaptation to regulatory change, without sacrificing performance or compliance. 

Bridging the ROI gap 

The move to flexible IT consumption changes the conversation from technology acquisition to business outcomes. Instead of asking, “What do we need to buy?” leaders ask, “What do we want to achieve?” This shift reframes IT from a cost centre into a strategic enabler, where every investment is tied directly to measurable impact. 

For example, replacing traditional EUC models with desktop virtualisation enables secure global collaboration, reduces hardware overhead and accelerates project delivery; managed security, backup and DR services embed resilience into every layer of IT and cut risk of downtime and data loss significantly; and bolstering in-house teams with outsourced round-the-clock IT support boosts productivity. 

This approach also supports a growing trend toward persona-based provisioning. The days of “one size fits all” are over. Take a global infrastructure firm in the AEC industry. Its visualisation team needs high-performance GPUs for 3D modelling and VR walkthroughs, while structural engineers require compute-heavy environments for simulations. If procurement takes a uniform EUC approach, some teams end up underpowered while others waste resources. Flexible consumption scales resources to each workload on demand, eliminating waste and improving cost efficiency – a direct ROI win. 

This shift also changes the skills equation. When infrastructure is consumed rather than owned, IT teams spend less time on hardware refreshes and capacity planning and more time on strategic oversight, integration, innovation and governance. That’s a positive evolution but it can expose gaps in areas like financial modelling, workload portability, and compliance. Strategic partners bring proven frameworks and deep technical expertise to navigate obstacles, accelerate adoption and future-proof IT strategies. In other words, flexible consumption amplifies in-house talent rather than replacing it. 

Making the switch 

Moving to an outcomes-driven investment strategy requires more than a mindset shift. It demands operational change. Flexible consumption alters how IT is planned, funded, and delivered, replacing rigid CapEx cycles with agile OpEx models. But without a clear framework, even the best intentions can stall. To turn strategy into measurable impact, organisations need practical steps that align technology decisions with business goals and create accountability for results. 

Here’s how to make every pound of your IT investment count: 

1.                  Align on business outcomes: Define success collaboratively, bringing IT, finance, and business leaders into the same conversation from day one. Tie every technology decision to strategic priorities.  

2.                  See the whole picture: Centralise data and visualise impact using BI tools. Track costs versus benefits, with measurable KPIs to ensure decisions are evidence-based.  

3.                  Use financial modelling that stands up to scrutiny: Calculate TCO, NPV, IRR, and payback periods to prioritise investments that deliver measurable value.  

4.                  Create a cross-functional governance team: Form a digital value taskforce with IT, finance, and business leaders to oversee prioritisation, track progress, and communicate learnings.  

5.                  Track innovation metrics that matter: Measure speed, productivity, customer impact, and risk resilience to prove ROI beyond financials.  

6.                  Speak the language of business: Translate technical benefits into business outcomes and quantify intangibles like agility, brand value, and employee satisfaction. 

The bottom line 

Flexible IT consumption is about buying smarter. By replacing entrenched technology budgeting and procurement habits with agile, ROI-driven models, organisations can align IT performance directly to business value. This approach enables predictable costs, faster scaling, and outcome-focused investment strategies that turn ambition into measurable impact. 

In today’s environment, agility and ROI define success. Consuming technology intelligently instead of simply deploying more of it is the strategic shift every business must make.