When external volatility makes ROI calculations more complex, how do you maintain executive confidence in IT investments?

Thats absolutely correct. Today we are overwhelmed with data and huge number of ROI Calculators. It would recommended keep it always simple. Input and output methodologies. How much complexity is reduce, how much quick the work gets done, how much reduction on man hours with moving into new technologies. Once you have these 3 points which are very tangible than focusing on the complex ROI tools. Example. If AI or Automation can complete the task in 1 hour which used to take 1 week definitely it's an adoption. But how many users will be using this AI or Automation and on the flip side how many new resources are required to manage this AI or Automation. If the users are very less impacted and need more resources to manage and maintain then this would definitely causes very huge IT Investments and increase the complexity . So its always necessity that should drive the IT Investment at the same time move a head with Technology. Every organization is industry specific and we need to foucs on revenue generation or new revenue generation methodologies and improve those departments with latest AI or Automation which will add real value for IT Investment. This will maintain executive confidence in IT Investments.

When external volatility makes ROI harder to pin down, I find that executive confidence is less about the precision of the spreadsheet and more about the clarity of the narrative. In other words: if the numbers wobble, the story must be rock solid.

What we’re seeing today is a déjà vu moment many vendors are recycling licensing models straight out of the mainframe era. Pay-per-use, pay-per-capacity, CPU seconds, MPU units… it’s like the 1980s called and asked for their pricing strategy back. The twist is that now it’s dressed up as “cloud innovation.”

This creates two challenges:

- Volatility in unit pricing: Vendors can adjust per-unit costs faster than customers can adjust budgets.

- Legacy lock-in: Products with deep enterprise roots (think Microsoft’s non-strategic legacy tools or VMware post-Broadcom) become “must-haves,” and vendors know it.

So how do you maintain confidence at the executive level?

- Shift the conversation from cost to control: Show leaders that IT isn’t passively absorbing vendor pricing games, it’s actively negotiating, benchmarking, and architecting for flexibility.

- Highlight resilience over ROI precision: ROI models will always be imperfect in volatile markets. What matters is demonstrating that IT investments reduce dependency risks, increase optionality, and keep the enterprise agile.

- Use history as a teaching tool: Remind executives that we’ve fought this battle before on the mainframe. The lesson then, and now, is that blind capacity commitments rarely favor the customer.

And for the humorous twist: I sometimes joke with executives that “cloud licensing is like airline baggage fees, you thought you paid for the ticket, but suddenly the overhead bin costs extra.” That usually gets a laugh, but more importantly, it reframes the conversation: volatility isn’t a bug in the system, it’s the system itself.

Confidence comes not from promising a perfect ROI, but from showing that IT leadership knows the game, has seen it before, and is prepared to play it smarter this time.

Data-backed decisions and regular progress reviews are key. We assess whether projects deliver expected outcomes and make look-back evaluations to confirm financial benefits. Relationship building with department peers ensures IT decisions are collaborative, supporting executive buy-in.

Benchmarking is vital. We compare current budgets to future projections, especially as costs evolve with technologies like AI and cloud. The goal is to assess net results, whether savings are realized or spending has increased, by referencing historical data.

We maintain multi-year investment projections and communicate cost changes to management, ensuring transparency. For example, if new hardware is needed, we explain the necessity and business impact, accounting for factors like inflation and external events.