90% of Organizations Plan IT Budget Increases Despite 'Black Holes': Report90% of Organizations Plan IT Budget Increases Despite 'Black Holes': Report

A comprehensive global survey conducted by Apptio, an IBM company, reveals significant shifts in how organizations are approaching technology investments in 2025.

The study, which included 1,004 technology decision-makers across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, highlights the growing complexity of managing technology spending in an AI-driven landscape.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Over 90% of organizations expect technology budget increases in 2025.

• 55% of business leaders lack adequate information for technology spending decisions.

• 71% of organizations currently use AI for data analysis.

• 74% cite technology advancements as the primary driver for sustainability initiatives.

• 87% of organizations rely on ROI metrics to guide technology investment decisions.

The report had a few surprises as well. According to the report, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the most widely used tools for informing data-driven technology decisions.

"It was surprising that CRM and ERP system data was considered more important for decision-making than business intelligence (BI), analytical/predictive, and ITFM [IT financial management] tools, despite their purpose being to derive insights from the data stored within CRM and ERP systems," Eugene Khvostov, chief product officer of Apptio, told ITPro Today.

Related:ITPro Today’s 2024 IT Priorities Report

Why Organizations Lack the Information to Support Tech Spending Decisions

According to the survey, 55% of business leaders lack adequate information for technology spending decisions, yet organizations are rapidly increasing AI investments.

There are ways that companies can better bridge this information gap. There are also specific data points organizations can prioritize to make more informed AI technology investment decisions.

First off, Khvostov recommends companies adopt technology business management (TBM) practices — like FinOps, ITFM, and strategic portfolio management — to help bridge the information gap.

"This unified approach for managing technology investments across the enterprise — including on-premises, cloud, and skilled labor — makes it easier to stay aligned with corporate goals and improve business outcomes," he said.

Focusing on AI, Khvostov highlighted another concern: the fact that funding for AI initiatives will primarily be drawn from existing budgets — meaning companies will need to determine how to most effectively reallocate resources and optimize costs.

In his view, a successful AI strategy starts with a clear definition of the problem the company aims to solve. As such, the specific data points necessary would be dependent on that solution area.

Related:State of IT Report 2025: Security and AI Drive Growth Despite Economic Pressures

"Establishing what a successful outcome looks like is essential to ensure AI initiatives justify their investment and deliver measurable value," Khvostov said.

FinOps Adoption Barriers and How to Overcome Them

While adopting a FinOps approach is one way organizations can better manage costs, there are issues. The report found relatively low prioritization of FinOps frameworks (57%) despite rising cloud costs.

Khvostov noted that organizations face several barriers to FinOps adoption.

Cultural: There are cultural challenges to moving from traditional finance practices to a cross-functional model, especially for teams that operate in silos. Finance, engineering, and operations often have different priorities.

Ownership: A lack of ownership and clearly defined roles makes cloud spend accountability a challenge.

Proper tooling: Proper tooling to track, analyze, and optimize cloud costs is crucial. Lack of automation and manual processes leads to inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

Source: Alamy

How to Navigate Budgetary Black Holes

The report found that 90% of organizations are planning to increase their technology budgets  in 2025. Yet, many are struggling with "budgetary black holes" — are areas where organizations don't have the same degree of control over spending they once had.

There are several strategies companies can use to avoid getting trapped in a budgetary black hole.

Khvostov noted that successful companies clearly map technology investments to business priorities. They establish teams, processes, and tooling to track project outcomes and ensure business value — adapting, if necessary — and they do so from the start, rather than playing catchup after the fact.

"The mapping process starts with a clear view of goals and objectives for your initiatives as well as an overarching technology strategy that minimizes redundancies, maintains alignment and drives innovation," he said.