Michael Welsh

Aug. 31,2026 | Software, AI

For decades, enterprise software pricing was built around a familiar unit: the human being. Count the employees, identify the users, negotiate the per-seat price and then spend the next three years discovering that 17 percent of those users never logged in. It was not perfect, but at least everyone generally understood what was being purchased. AI agents are beginning to dismantle that model. Unlike a traditional user, an AI agent may complete thousands of actions, interact with multiple systems and operate continuously without taking lunch, vacation or an inexplicable three-hour block marked “focus time.” Vendors are now trying to determine ...

Austin Zolman

Aug. 31,2026 | CIO, Cyber Security, CPO, CISO, CSO

What Palo Alto Networks’ Reported Interest in Datadog and Okta Could Mean for Enterprise Buyers A recent report from The Information revealed that Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora explored potential acquisitions of Datadog and Okta. There is no confirmed or pending transaction involving either company, and the reported discussions may never produce one. Still, the names themselves are noteworthy. Datadog is a major observability platform, while Okta is one of the most recognizable identity and access management providers. Either would extend Palo Alto Networks much further into the daily operations of enterprise technology. The broader ...

Fred Teekens

Aug. 18,2026 | Cloud, Azure, AWS, GCP

For the better part of a decade, the financial services industry has moved to a familiar beat: migrate core banking workloads, real-time settlement capabilities, and risk analytics to public cloud hyperscalers. Many tier-1 institutions now depend heavily on a very concentrated group of providers, primarily Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). That shift has delivered real benefits in speed, scalability, and access to innovation. But its also created a less comfortable reality: technology concentration. When many institutions rely on similar cloud control planes, DNS services, identity layers, and ...

Dexter Siglin

Jul. 21,2026 | Procurement, CIO, IT Services, IT Insights

There was a time when the technology advisory market had a healthy population of independent specialists. These firms focused on a specific mission: helping clients select technology, optimize licensing, benchmark pricing, negotiate agreements and manage supplier relationships. They did not necessarily want to implement the system, resell the software, manage the environment or turn the initial project into a five-year transformation program. They were paid to advise the client and or save them money. Increasingly, those firms are disappearing into larger consulting, outsourcing, software-resale and technology-services organizations. Some of ...

Michael Welsh

Jul. 21,2026 | CIO, AI

Shadow IT is hardly a new problem. Employees have been downloading unapproved applications since someone first realized they could avoid an IT service ticket by entering a credit card number. Generative AI has made the problem faster, easier and considerably more complicated. Today, an employee does not need to implement a major software platform to create a new technology expense or expose company information. They can subscribe to an AI assistant, connect a browser extension, authorize a plug-in or activate an AI feature already embedded in an existing SaaS product. The entire “implementation” might take less time than it takes to find the ...

Andrea Alterman

Jul. 16,2026 | HCM, Workday

When we first examined Workday Flex Credits, the primary concern was straightforward: would consumption-based AI pricing provide flexibility, or become another budget line that is easy to buy and difficult to predict? Recent experiences suggest the issue is becoming broader. NET(net)’s specialists are seeing three commercial areas increasingly overlap: API consumption, AI agents, and Workday Success Plans. Each can affect the others, making it difficult to evaluate a proposal one line item at a time. Our earlier article on Workday Flex Credits explored the potential risks of buying AI capacity before adoption is fully understood. Since then, ...

Tjeerd Edelman

Jun. 30,2026 | Procurement, CFO, CIO, IT Insights

As a former Head of Procurement for a couple firms, I have seen this play out first hand, and even more working with companies all over the globe with NET(net). For years, most companies managed technology costs one transaction at a time. A major renewal appeared on the calendar, procurement negotiated a discount, everyone survived the final week of redlines, and attention moved to the next supplier. That approach worked reasonably well when technology portfolios were simpler. But it's becoming much less effective today. Worldwide IT spending continues to climb, while major suppliers are changing pricing, packaging, licensing metrics and ...

Steven Zolman

Jun. 30,2026 | Microsoft

For years, Microsoft Enterprise Agreement renewals followed a relatively familiar script. Microsoft proposed an increase. Procurement expressed concern. Microsoft discovered that quarter-end was approaching. Everyone negotiated intensely, signed the agreement and promised to start planning earlier next time. It was practically a corporate tradition. That tradition has now received what Microsoft might call a “pricing consistency update” and what most CFOs will call something considerably less suitable for publication. Beginning November 1, 2025, Microsoft eliminated the automatic pricing differences between Enterprise Agreement Price Levels ...

Michael Welsh

Jun. 30,2026 | Software, Microsoft, AI

For the past several years, the executive conversation around artificial intelligence has been fairly predictable: “We need an AI strategy.” “What are our competitors doing with AI?” “Why aren’t we doing more with AI?” And, inevitably: “Can we add AI to the presentation?” Apparently, no corporate initiative is complete until a small glowing robot has been placed somewhere on Slide 4. But the conversation is changing. The enthusiasm is still there, the investment is certainly still there, and the PowerPoint robots remain gainfully employed. What has changed is the question coming from CFOs, boards and private equity sponsors: Where is the ...

Michael Welsh

May. 29,2026 | Oracle, Audit, Java

By now, many enterprise IT and procurement leaders are becoming familiar with a particular type of Oracle email. It usually starts innocently enough. “Hi, we’d like to better understand your Java environment.” Or perhaps: “We noticed some historical Java downloads and would appreciate a quick conversation.” Naturally, nobody has ever regretted replying to one of those emails. In 2026, there is substantial evidence across the industry that Oracle is using Java audits as far more than a routine compliance exercise. Increasingly, Java has become a strategic entry point into broader revenue expansion conversations, subscription growth ...