The visibility problem at the heart of modern IT
Greg Holmes has watched the IT function evolve for more than two decades. As he explains, “I've been in the software industry for over 20 years now and have seen how the role of IT has shifted from a back-office support function to the very core of business operations.” That transformation has elevated technology into the centre of strategic decision-making, but it has also placed it under unprecedented financial scrutiny. IT is no longer just enabling the business; it is expected to prove its contribution to business performance.
Holmes describes Apptio’s role as helping organisations address a persistent and growing disconnect: “For most organisations, it's incredibly difficult to connect the dots between what they're spending on technology and the actual business value they're getting from it – this has become even more challenging with AI.”
He explains that Apptio’s goal is to bridge the gap between IT and the wider business, creating greater transparency and more actionable insight so that IT leaders can make more informed decisions.
Many enterprises are investing heavily in digital transformation, AI experimentation and cloud modernisation, yet struggling to clearly articulate what those investments are delivering. It’s rarely about a lack of ambition. More often, it’s about not having a clear line of sight between investment and impact. Many providers already sit at the intersection of infrastructure, cost management and business performance. The difference now is that clients expect far more than uptime and efficiency; they expect interpretation.
Rising budgets, falling confidence
Holmes characterises the current market as a broader shift in expectations. Organisations are investing more in technology than ever before, driven by genuine excitement around AI, automation and data-driven transformation. However, that enthusiasm exists alongside growing doubt. With nearly 90% of leaders questioning the ROI of their technology investments, scrutiny has intensified at board level. Holmes outlines: “CIOs and CTOs aren’t just being asked how much they’re spending; they’re being asked to show what they’re getting in return.” CIOs and CTOs are therefore no longer just asked to report expenditure - they must clearly demonstrate what that spending delivers. This shift is fundamentally changing how technology leadership is evaluated.
Holmes notes that providers are increasingly expected to move beyond execution and into advisory territory. MSPs must help clients understand not just how technology is deployed, but how it is consumed, what value it creates and what impact it has on the broader business, all while maintaining operational excellence.
He explains: “MSPs are increasingly expected to do more than deliver technical work. They need to help clients understand how technology is being consumed, the value it is creating and the impact it’s having on the business, all while continuing to manage the underlying infrastructure efficiently.”
That dual responsibility of being both operator and strategic advisor is no longer optional; it is now becoming the standard expectation. For MSPs, that represents both risk and opportunity. Those who remain purely technical may find themselves under pressure. Providers that build financial fluency and strategic capability into their offering can strengthen their competitive position.
AI: the catalyst for cost complexity
The rise of AI has amplified existing weaknesses in financial governance. Holmes explains that AI introduces ‘a new level of variability into technology costs’. Usage patterns fluctuate. Experiments scale quickly. Traditional annual planning cycles struggle to keep pace.Crucially, much of this investment is not new funding. According to Apptio, 67% of AI investment is expected to come from reallocating existing budgets rather than net-new spend. In other words, organisations are moving money from one initiative to another, increasing internal pressure to ensure that reallocation delivers measurable impact.
Holmes warns that without structure, organisations may track expenditure but struggle to explain outcomes: “Without the right structure, it becomes easy to track what’s being spent, but much harder to explain what it’s delivering.”
Many providers already offer cost optimisation services, but optimisation alone is no longer enough — the focus must shift toward demonstrating value and real business impact. He suggests introducing structured governance models such as Technology Business Management to link day-to-day decisions with long-term strategic goals, effectively reframing executive conversations from “What did this cost?” to “What did this enable?” That shift reflects a deeper change in mindset around how technology investment is measured and managed.
The data fragmentation challenge
If ROI anxiety is rising, fragmented data is a major contributor. Holmes observes that different departments often operate from entirely separate datasets, making it difficult to achieve a shared understanding of value. When IT, finance and business leaders measure success differently, alignment becomes almost impossible. The statistics are telling: 40% of leaders distrust their own data, and 82% of companies report having no unified metrics across departments.
Holmes describes technology spending as frequently being treated like a ‘black box’. Finance sees rising costs but limited visibility into consumption, IT understands technical utilisation but struggles to express it in financial terms, and business leaders focus on outcomes without full visibility into the underlying cost drivers. Holmes notes: “It creates an environment where productive conversations are difficult because IT, finance and business leaders are all looking at different numbers.”
For MSPs, this fragmentation represents one of the most strategic openings in the current market. Providers often already integrate systems, manage reporting layers and oversee cloud environments. Expanding that role into financial data integration and cross-functional visibility is a natural evolution. Holmes argues that one of the most valuable contributions an MSP can make is to ‘open up that black box and provide clarity in consumption’. Pulling disparate data into one clear, trusted view gives businesses real visibility. That transparency can then drive quicker, more confident decisions across the entire leadership team.
Practical implications for MSPs: from reporting to real value enablement
Infrastructure management, security and operational support remain essential, but they no longer differentiate providers in a market where clients expect visibility into cost and value at the same time. As budgets rise and board-level scrutiny increases, clients need partners who can translate technology spend into business language and measurable outcomes.
In practical terms, this means MSPs must start embedding financial transparency into their service delivery. That could include introducing structured monthly or quarterly reviews that combine technical performance with cost visibility, linking cloud consumption to business units, or mapping key applications to defined business outcomes. Rather than presenting usage data in isolation, providers should contextualise it by showing what is running, why it exists, and what value it delivers.
Developing internal financial literacy within MSP teams is a critical first step. Engineers and account managers should understand core cost drivers across cloud, licensing and infrastructure so they can have informed conversations with clients about optimisation and reallocation. Some providers are already building capabilities around Technology Business Management principles, cost tagging frameworks and unified reporting dashboards to create a single source of truth for customers.
Another practical move is aligning service offerings to outcome-based metrics. Instead of measuring success purely through uptime or ticket resolution, MSPs can begin incorporating value indicators. These can include application performance linked to revenue-generating systems, cost efficiency from workload consolidation, or savings generated through better resource allocation. This helps shift the conversation from operational support to business impact.
Equally important is positioning. MSPs that proactively bring visibility to board discussions, rather than waiting for clients to request reporting, become trusted advisors rather than reactive suppliers. Opening up the ‘black box’ of technology spend and delivering clear, consistent insights strengthens long-term relationships and increases stickiness.
Technology investment is not slowing down, but tolerance for ambiguity around its value is shrinking. MSPs that build capabilities around financial governance, data integration and outcome reporting alongside their technical expertise will be better placed to support clients through this next phase of accountability.
As Holmes’ insights demonstrate, success for the channel will belong to those providers who move beyond simply tracking spend and instead help organisations clearly prove what that spend enables.
