Shift to OPEX: Sopra Steria Next's Strategy for IT Investment Control

On June 12, 2026, Sopra Steria Next released insights into the evolving IT investment landscape. The shift from CAPEX to OPEX dominates as organisations increasingly adopt cloud, SaaS, and AI solutions, leading to consumption-based models which now make up over 75% of IT spending. Despite promising flexibility, this shift has introduced significant cost volatility, with cloud budget overruns averaging 23%.

Sopra Steria Next's CIO Compass outlines five operational levers for managing these challenges over the next 18-24 months. These include embedding FinOps for real-time cost tracking, integrating GreenOps to weigh CO₂ alongside financial costs, employing dynamic resource allocation over static budgets, proactively managing technology dependencies, and shifting value measurement from asset ownership to usage metrics.

As AI-driven use cases escalate costs, timely adoption of these strategies becomes essential, offering a potential competitive edge.