Navigating Cloud cost, compliance and AI

From untangling Cloud costs to simplifying AI adoption, this piece explores how lifecycle thinking is reshaping IT decisions for Indian SMBs, where value beats volume, and strategy, not spend, leads the way. A quiet tech shift with bold outcomes

- BHARTI TREHAN

India's Cloud landscape isn't just growing, it's exploding. But behind the buzzwords and vendor slideshows, real challenges bubble beneath the surface - rising complexity, spiralling costs and the tricky art of digital transformation. For most Indian businesses, especially mid-market firms and SMBs, Cloud adoption is no longer a question of if but how. That's where a subtle shift in strategy is quietly gaining momentum. It's not about buying more tools. It's about choosing better ones. And it's about having someone who can guide that decision with visibility, insight and long-term thinking. Munish Gupta, MD, SoftwareOne India, shares how the company has shifted gears from being a software reseller to a full-lifecycle technology advisor with a sharp focus on cost governance, Cloud-native readiness and SMB enablement.

Optimising SaaS portfolios with visibility and value

SoftwareOne's origins lie in Software Asset Management (SAM), but the shift to a broader portfolio wasn't accidental. The company began by helping customers not just negotiate good deals but optimise what they already had. That early grounding in IT Portfolio Management (ITPM) has shaped its consulting-first mindset. Today, its FinOps-driven approach goes well beyond simple cost-saving. It enables CIOs and IT teams to identify waste, plan strategically and maintain compliance across both SaaS and multi-Cloud environments. In the on-prem era, unused software often ended up as shelfware. In the Cloud age, the waste is different - hidden in idle consumption and unchecked growth. Consultants now work proactively with enterprises to curb excess before it even becomes a line item on the balance sheet.

FinOps: Beyond spend analysis to application modernisation