Exciting developments are unfolding in the Financial Operations (FinOps), IT Asset Management (ITAM), Software Asset Management (SAM), and Software as a Service (SaaS) sectors! Following JR Storment's (Executive Director of the FinOps Foundation) keynote on the Evolution of FinOps at Flexera's Sales Kick Off, Flexera has announced its acquisition of NetApp Spot (including the FinOps product formerly known as CloudCheckr).
This reflects the expanding scope of FinOps, which now encompasses Data Center and SaaS management, following a refreshed framework that also incorporates software licensing and sustainability. This broader perspective enables organisations to take a proactive approach to managing their technology ecosystems while aligning decisions with strategic business goals.
Flexera unifies ITAM, FinOps, and SaaS management on a single platform, empowering organisations to consolidate their technology insights and this integrated approach drives optimised spending, enhances risk management, and maximises value delivery to the business.
Having a centralised view of all technology is transformative, enabling more informed decision-making through access to critical data points across the entire technology stack. This proactive 'shift left' approach ensures decisions are guided by a comprehensive understanding of their impact on business objectives and values.
Managing IT costs is a longstanding challenge, and with public cloud spend rising year after year, it's no surprise that CIOs continue to prioritise financial control at the top of their agendas.
To support this ambition, a plethora of FinOps-focussed tools are available in the market with both Gartner and Forrester recognising Apptio (an IBM Company) and Flexera as the clear leaders.
Both organisations offer similar solutions to multi-cloud optimisation, and both continue to expand their offerings through acquisitions.
IBM acquired Kubecost in September 2024 to enhance their Kubernetes cost management offering and with this latest announcement by Flexera, they also gain an enhanced Kubernetes management capability.
Containerisation of new cloud applications has become common practice, and organisations need the ability to monitor and analyse costs in real-time which is why these tooling enhancements are so important.
Since both products already lead the way in real-time insights, cost allocation and chargeback capabilities, the addition of an enhanced Kubernetes management layer is welcomed, but we can't expect either product to be seamlessly integrated overnight, so for now, they will complement an already strong portfolio. However, it may take a while before we see the fully developed offering, with additional acquisitions likely joining along the way.
This continued battle for first place can only be a good thing for organisations adopting FinOps practices as more automated guidance, policy enforcement and optimisation is introduced.
Computacenter has strong partnerships with both organisations and our FinOps practitioners have experience in helping customers select the right solutions for their specific needs, while also focussing and emphasising the importance of the people, process, and cultural aspects of FinOps adoption.
Working closely with Flexera and IBM helps us understand their product roadmaps and the focus areas for our own services development over the coming years which ensures we’re prepared when customers need us.