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Perplexity AITL;DR: Navigating IT Budgets
The problem: Rising software costs, vendor audits, and AI hype are inflating IT budgets. But most organizations lack visibility into usage and value.
Key insights:
- Vendors thrive on complexity to drive overspending and audits
- Business value matters more than software price
- Real-time usage data is your key to control and savings
Your next step: Run a cost vs. usage audit across your top 10 software vendors.
IT budgets are expected to grow by 10% annually through 2027. But that doesn’t mean breathing room. Software costs, especially AI-enabled tools, are rising faster than budgets can keep up. Add looming vendor audits (from Oracle to VMware), and your “increase” may already be spoken for.
Too many organizations still rely on gut feeling and static spreadsheets to manage software spend. That’s not budgeting, it’s guessing. Without visibility into real usage, costs, and risks, most companies are flying blind.
The employee trap
This isn’t just about your direct workforce. Contractors count too. That consulting team working on your mobile app? Licensed. The offshore development partner? Licensed. Your license base can balloon overnight.
Three-year subscription blocks make it worse. No monthly opt-outs. No scaling down when projects end. You’re locked in, and Oracle knows it.
Don’t get lost in vendor fog
Shadow IT, SaaS sprawl, and shelfware hide costs — and vendors count on that. Most organizations overpay because they don’t know what’s actually being used. Active usage data, not just installations, tells you what delivers value and what should go.
Licensing models are intentionally confusing. Vendors use audits, bundling, and vague contracts to push spend up. Not because you need more software, but because they need to hit targets. You can’t negotiate without leverage, and you won’t have leverage without data.
Value comes from use, not cost
The cheapest tool is not always the best investment. Value comes from use, not cost. A €500 app used daily by 50 users may be more valuable than a €5,000 tool opened once a month. Budgeting must link spend to real business outcomes.
ITAM and SAM teams often get labeled as blockers. Flip the script by sharing clear, actionable data with application and vendor owners. Show them what’s used, what’s idle, and what’s at risk — then let them make better calls. Internal invoicing increases accountability fast.
Turn software data into software intelligence
Modern ITAM isn’t about spreadsheets and spot-checks, it’s about automation and action. With tools like Xensam, you get pre-built reports, license pools, and dashboards that surface savings, compliance gaps, and underused apps in real time.
A customer recently cut six figures in waste by automating unused license removals:
- After 30 days of inactivity, users got a reminder email
- After 14 days with no response, the license was removed
- Over 90 days, 20% of licenses were reclaimed — automatically
Another team used Xensam’s cost-per-minute data to consolidate overlapping tools and renegotiate contracts with confidence. The result? Better pricing and a shift in perception: from IT blockers to trusted budget advisors.
The key: centralized, shared intelligence. By involving business users and procurement early (and arming them with usage, cost, and risk data) you turn your SAM function into a strategic growth lever.
Software spend is no longer a back-office detail, it’s a board-level concern. The companies winning in 2025 will be those that align IT investments with business value, backed by hard data and smart automation.
Your next step: watch our on-demand webinar on Navigating IT Budgets to gain more valuable insights
Want help identifying waste and reclaiming control? Xensam’s automated reporting makes it easy to find your biggest opportunities in minutes. Not months.