CFO: Up to 30% of Cloud Spending Considered Wasteful
Software company Azul released a report stating that 69% of CFOs consider 10% to 30% of their cloud spending to be wasteful, nearly 90% of CFOs say cloud costs are rising, and two-thirds of enterprises have elevated cloud cost oversight to the board level.
Key Takeaways
- Cloud investment is supposed to boost efficiency, but a new report from software company Azul shows that 69% of CFOs believe that10% to 30%of such spending may be wasted—an issue that has drawn close attention at the board level as AI demand drives up costs.
- Nearly nine in ten CFOs say their organization's cloud spending is rising, and two-thirds report that cloud cost oversight has reached the board level.
- "This shows that cloud is no longer viewed merely as an operational expense, but as a topic that poses both strategic financial risk and value-driving potential, requiring executive oversight," Azul said in the report.
Deep Insights
Azul noted that as companies increase cloud usage to support digital transformation and AI applications, CFOs are increasingly focused on controlling spending, reducing waste, and ensuring investments generate the desired returns.
Azul said that amid severe market volatility, two in five CFOs rank reducing cloud and infrastructure costs among their top financial priorities for the next 12 months.
"Cloud optimization has become a strategic lever—it enables organizations to fund AI innovation, protect margins, and bring greater predictability and accountability to cloud investments," Azul CEO Scott Sellers said in apress releasediscussing the survey results.
In another study released in January by Cloud Capital, a startup that offers cloud cost management tools, about nine in ten CFOs said that rising cloudcosts are eroding profit margins。
Azul found that limited visibility into consumption, combined with the complexity of modern cloud environments, makes it difficult for many organizations to accurately forecast demand and control costs.
Facing greater scrutiny of cloud spending, CFOs are examining how resources are used—and where inefficiencies may be eroding profitability.
Meanwhile, finance leaders also view cloud optimization as a way to "unlock broader financial and strategic advantages across the business," Azul said.
"Among the top financial benefits, 45% of respondents cited increased budget flexibility to fund innovation (including AI and other digital initiatives), making cloud optimization a key enabler of growth rather than just an efficiency tool," the report said.
"Closely following, 42% of respondents mentioned 'margin or profitability improvement,' indicating a strong direct link between cloud efficiency and financial performance."