The SaaS Visibility Crisis: Shadow AI Is Making Shadow IT More Expensive
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 ...
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Surviving the AI Tax Before It Eats Your Technology Budget
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 ...
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Oracle’s Java Audit Tour: “We’re Just Checking In”
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 ...
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The AI Contracting Problem: Why Most Companies Are Flying Blind
Enterprise AI adoption has moved from experimentation to commitment. Organizations are rapidly embedding platforms such as Microsoft Copilot, Salesforce Agentforce, Amazon Bedrock, and Databricks into their core operating environments. The strategic rationale is clear. AI is now viewed as a foundational capability, not an optional add-on. The issue is not whether to invest, but how quickly and at what scale. What is far less clear and increasingly problematic, is how these investments are being priced, structured, and contracted. A Market Without Benchmarks Unlike traditional enterprise software categories, the AI market does not yet have ...
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When Suppliers Turn Up the Squeeze: Why Big IT Vendors Push for Deals as Their Fiscal Year Ends Approach
Looking at you IBM, SAP, Salesforce, Workday, and Rackspace... Every year, certain major IT suppliers enter their most aggressive selling season as their fiscal year end approaches. When their sales and revenue pressure goes up, the pressure on customers goes up. Whether the target is more licenses, longer terms, higher commitments, or migration into higher margin products, suppliers will position these moves as strategic improvements, but they are often driven by internal quota demands, stock performance expectations, bonuses and compensation cycles. With Salesforce and Workday both closing their fiscal year on January 31, and IBM, SAP, and ...
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Record Cloud Scale in 2025 - But Is Usage Running Wild?
The public-cloud market is hitting unprecedented scale in 2025. The three dominant service providers, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, continue to post record growth, fueled by generative AI, massive data flows, and enterprise migrations. According to market trackers, global cloud-infrastructure spending hit roughly US $99 billion in Q2 2025 alone, growing more than 25 % year-on-year. That scale is impressive, but the flip side is equally important. With scale comes structural exposure to over-consumption, waste, runaway costs, and sub-optimized deployments. This article reviews the numbers behind the “Big ...
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The Time Is Now: Enterprise IT Leaders and CFOs Must Act Boldly on Strategic IT Agreements
In the ever-shifting landscape of 2025, enterprise IT leaders and CFOs find themselves at a critical juncture. Market uncertainties are swirling like a storm on the horizon—think tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and economic forecasts that sound more like a Magic 8-Ball prediction than a solid plan. A recent CNBC survey from March 25, 2025, revealed that a whopping 95% of CFOs are feeling the heat of policy uncertainty, with many predicting a recession before the year’s end. Meanwhile, the U.S. stock market is teetering on the edge, as Forbes warned on March 1, 2025, citing multiple risk factors that could send investors running for cover. ...
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SAP Announces Extension of Support to 2033 - Buyer Beware!
Good news! As expected, SAP has extended its support for ECC for at least another 6 years. As with all things SAP - buyers are well advised to beware. SAP plans to offer... SAP ERP - Private Edition - Transition Option The new offering, which won’t be available for purchase until 2028, entails moving the hosting of legacy ECC deployments to SAP hosting. Setting aside the complexities associated with changing hosting providers and SAP’s prior failures as a hosting provider for its software for customers, SAP’s option will undoubtedly be a premium cost for an inferior product based upon its customers’ prior experience. What the above ...
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Top 5 Strategies to Minimize Your Dependency on IBM (Without Derailing Your Business)
Feeling locked in with IBM? Has their latest renewal left you sour and searching for alternatives? You're not alone. Many large enterprises face similar frustrations – hefty price tags, rigid contracts, and a lack of transparency can leave you feeling powerless and overpaying. At NET(net), we specialize in technology cost and value optimization, and we understand the complexities of navigating the ever-evolving technology landscape. We've seen firsthand the challenges client organizations face when heavily reliant on one supplier, particularly IBM. But rest assured, there's light at the end of the tunnel – and it doesn't involve burning ...
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Top 5 Concerns & Countermeasures Regarding Broadcom's Acquisition of VMware
Preface Broadcom's recent acquisition of VMware has raised concerns among client organizations. In this blog, we will review what has happened and discuss the top five concerns that enterprises should have about this mega-acquisition along with five effective countermeasures that client organizations can take to protect themselves. Immediately after Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware was announced, VMWare customers had five top concerns, specifically: Top 5 Concerns: Price Increases - Broadcom has a history of raising prices after acquiring companies, and there is concern that it will do the same with VMware. This could make it more expensive ...
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