The Cloud Cost Squeeze Has Arrived: 88% of CFOs Report Rising Spend
Cloud computing is no longer just a back-office utility quietly managed by IT—it’s now a major financial focus for organizations. According to ERP Today’s Maneesha Tiwari in her report for 2026, based on a survey of 300 U.S. CFOs and senior finance leaders, rising cloud costs are now a board-level concern. Companies are racing to fund AI and automation initiatives, but cloud spending is climbing, and efficiency is lagging. The survey found that 88% of organizations report higher cloud costs, while 69% of finance leaders believe 10–30% of that spend is wasted. CFOs are stepping up, working closely with IT to track usage, optimize workloads, and modernize systems. The goal isn’t just cutting costs—it’s freeing up budget for growth and innovation. Metrics like cloud utilization, total spend, and costs as a percentage of revenue are now key performance indicators. For ERP-heavy organizations, this is especially critical. With finance, supply chain, and other core workloads running in the cloud, efficiency directly impacts margins and the ability to scale next-generation capabilities. Cloud is no longer invisible—it’s a strategic lever for driving innovation while protecting the bottom line.
