Tjeerd Edelman

Mar. 31,2026 | Microsoft, Azure, Reseller

After three decades in enterprise sourcing, I've watched countless organizations pay for the illusion of optimization. In the Microsoft Azure ecosystem, no illusion is more expensive than assuming your CSP reseller is doing FinOps.

Let me be direct with you: the Microsoft CSP model is commercial plumbing. It was designed to manage billing relationships, provisioning, and frontline support, not to systematically reduce your cloud spend. That conflation, between access to cost data and the active discipline of managing it, is one of the most expensive misunderstandings I see across large enterprise Azure environments.

The confusion is understandable. CSP partners do provide cost visibility through dashboards and native tools like Azure Cost Management. Some go further. But visibility is not optimization, and reporting is not accountability. The fact that you can see your spend does not mean anyone is managing it.

CSP does not equal FinOps. At best, a CSP acts as an enabler, it’s not the solution.

The three-tier reality of CSP FinOps capability

After years of evaluating these provider relationships, I've found that CSP capabilities across the market fall into three distinct tiers, and the gap between them is substantial.

1 - Basic

The majority of the market.

Cost dashboards, budget alerts, and periodic optimization recommendations. The work is reactive, there is no integration into engineering workflows, and critically, there is no accountability for outcomes. This is cost reporting repackaged as a value-added service. In my experience, most clients receiving this tier believe they have FinOps coverage. They do not.

Not FinOps in any meaningful sense.

2- Structured Optimization

Managed CSPs & MSPs.

A meaningful step forward: rightsizing guidance, Reserved Instance and Savings Plan recommendations, tagging strategies, and regular cost reviews. The model remains heavily manual and episodic, with limited automation. Progress, yes, but with a structural problem that rarely gets discussed.

Inherent commercial conflict: many of these providers earn margin on consumption, which dampens their incentive to aggressively reduce your spend.

3- True FinOps

A small segment of the market

Continuous optimization through policy-driven automation. FinOps practices embedded into DevOps workflows. Genuine financial transparency through ‘showback’ and ‘chargeback’ models. Sophisticated commitment strategies, including Reserved Instance and Savings Plan arbitrage. Forecasting and unit economics. This is what FinOps actually looks like, and it is relatively rare. Some of the players here:

• Accenture
• Rackspace Technology
• SoftwareOne
• Crayon
• SHI International

What true FinOps actually requires.

FinOps is a cross-functional operating model. It integrates finance, engineering, and operations to actively govern and optimize cloud spend — not just report on it. That distinction is not semantic. It has real implications for how you structure provider relationships, what you contractually require, and who bears accountability for outcomes.

In the engagements we manage at NET(net), the delivery model that consistently produces results combines three elements: a CSP for billing and infrastructure access, a dedicated FinOps tooling layer (such as Apptio, VMware Aria Cost, or Flexera), and an advisory layer that drives accountability and continuous optimization. Each component has a defined role. None of them alone is sufficient.

The CSP handles the pipes. The tooling provides the instrumentation. The advisory layer is what actually turns insight into action, and action into savings.

What this means for your sourcing strategy.

If you are in the process of selecting or renewing a Microsoft CSP relationship, the most important questions are not about price. They are about capability, accountability, and conflict of interest. Ask your prospective partner where they fall on this maturity curve — and hold them to specifics. Dashboards and dashboards alone are not FinOps. Neither are periodic review calls or informal rightsizing conversations.

If you have existing CSP agreements, it is worth auditing what you are actually receiving against what you believe you were promised. In our experience, many organizations are paying for Basic capabilities while expecting True FinOps outcomes. That gap is where spend accumulates quietly and compliantly, right up until someone pays attention to it.

NET(net) Perspective

The CSP is not your enemy here, it’s a necessary component of the delivery model. But it is one component, not the whole. Organizations that treat their CSP relationship as a proxy for FinOps maturity will consistently overspend. Those that structure their cloud economics stack deliberately, with the right tooling, the right advisory layer, and the right contractual accountability….are the ones who realize the returns Azure is capable of delivering.

If you are unsure which tier you are actually operating in, that’s usually the first answer you need.

About NET(net)

At NET(net), we don't just optimize IT investments, we weaponize them for competitive advantage. As the world's leading technology investment optimization firm, we've spent over two decades perfecting the art and science of extracting maximum value from technology supply chains while neutralizing vendor pricing manipulation.

Our battle - hardened methodology has influenced trillions of dollars in technology investments, captured hundreds of billions in documented value, and transformed how enterprises approach every facet of IT spend - from emerging technology such as AI, ML, IoT, RPA, Quantum, and Blockchain, to IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, to enterprise hardware and software solutions, and professional services arrangements including strategic outsourcing relationships.

We're not consultants who theorize about optimization, we're the specialists who help you devise and execute your strategy. Our proven frameworks turn vendor pricing chaos into strategic opportunity, licensing complexity into competitive advantage, and cost centers into value engines. Whether you're facing an aggressive vendor audit, navigating a forced migration, or simply refusing to accept runaway IT costs, NET(net) delivers the expertise, experience, and execution you need to dominate rather than merely survive.

Founded in 2002, NET(net) has established itself as the essential strategic partner for enterprises and technology providers who demand performance, not promises. We've mastered every major area of IT optimization because we understand that in today's vendor-hostile environment, half-measures guarantee defeat.

Experience the NET(net) advantage. Contact us at info@netnetweb.com, visit www.netnetweb.com, or call +1 (616) 546-3100 to discover how we can transform your technology investments from cost burden to strategic weapon.

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