Why 2026 Could Be A Golden Year Of Cloud Optimisation
In 2026, AI is set to continue holding the top spot in conversations around technology adoption and integration, largely thanks to the expanding use cases for generative AI and agents. But the one element of AI that is often overlooked is how it is delivered, which is mostly via the cloud through SaaS offerings.
Cloud investments make up a significant part of all IT budgets and AI has added new complexity for operations and finance teams. With Forrester now referencing the ‘AI-native cloud’, and the democratisation of AI continuing at pace, from enterprise SaaS solutions to low-code tools that unlock the full gamut of data science for all, costs related to usage, compute power, different pricing models and licenses can quickly spiral.
The Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, which outlines the key cloud investments and challenges facing organisations today, includes the new category of ‘Generative AI’ as an option for public cloud services used by organisations. Half of all respondents said they were using Gen AI cloud services, which is the largest value recorded for a new service added to the report in 14 years. When it comes to the top challenges, the five most pressing cited are: managing cloud spend (84%), security (77%), managing software licenses (75%), governance (75%), and lack of resources/expertise (75%).
So what does this mean for cloud optimisation and investment strategies in 2026, and how can organisations, from SMBs to large-scale enterprises, address these challenges and take charge of their cloud investments, particularly as AI continues to permeate their IT environments and remain a central component of digital transformation roadmaps?
The Year Of The MSP?
According to the Flexera report, 60% of all organisations use managed service providers (MSPs) in some capacity for managing their public cloud investments, with SMBs in particular growing their engagement, as they seek support to manage complex cloud infrastructure. As AI continues to add complexity to these environments, it is likely that we will see this trend continue in 2026.
As we see from the report, managing cloud spend and software licenses are two clear areas where MSPs deliver value. By taking on the set-up, integration and the ongoing management of licensing, vendor partners like MSPs can ensure each investment is optimised, with service level agreements (SLAs) also put in place.
Security was cited as the second most pressing cloud challenge by organisations, and understandably so. As cloud environments expand, with businesses operating a blend of multi-cloud and hybrid models, so too does the potential attack surface for cybercriminals. AI is again pertinent to this conversation. The two things cybercriminals always have over their targets is time and persistence, and with AI now enabling attackers to scale their efforts like never before, the time it takes for their persistence to be rewarded is greatly reduced.
MSPs and specialist MSSPs (managed security service providers) can also help with these challenges, ensuring systems are more closely monitored, with customers benefitting from specialist services, like Security Operations Centres (SOC), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) and managed Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools.
Always-on agility
For many organisations, particularly those that pre-date the digital age, such as financial institutions and those across the public sector, legacy technology and processes are commonplace. As a consequence, these organisations often lack the agility and internal expertise to adapt to new technology and processes. Even for more digitally native SMBs, the expense of hiring specialist technical roles, such as DevOps and site reliability engineers, means a certain level of cloud optimisation is out of reach.
Governance is another of the top challenges cited in the report. With more opportunities for shadow IT–and now shadow AI–to creep in, expertise relating to processes and governance frameworks is also essential.
This tracks against the report, which reveals that a lack of resources and expertise is the third most-cited cloud challenge. Bringing in experts – whether they are MSPs, value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators (SIs) or independent software vendors (ISVs) – is a clear route to effectively auditing and optimising existing investments, as they come with dedicated technical experts and offerings that are financially not in scope.
It is also not just grand scale digital transformation projects or long-term engagements where MSPs add value. they also ensure existing investments are regularly evaluated, optimised and continue to deliver ROI. A recent report from Logicalis revealed that half of CIOs believe they have overinvested in security tools they don’t need. Trusted MSPs can stop this from occurring by fully scoping the security requirements of a business tailoring investments accordingly from the start and apply the same approach to other services.
DIY Vs Engaging The Experts
Within organisations, the challenges of managing cloud costs is also driving the growth of FinOps (financial operations), with more organisations reporting that they now have dedicated FinOps teams. When cloud engineers are also responsible for financial governance, there is no hand-off from one team to another when it comes to the ROI of each investment, but again these considerations are increasingly being taken into account by MSPs, with many now incorporating FinOps into their suite of services.
To return to the point around AI, the majority of enterprises are still struggling to deliver ROI with their AI investments. Assistance is clearly needed and 2026 is looking like the year when technology partnerships will be sought out and valued most as organisations look to maximise their existing investments, while driving value with AI.
But with so many players competing in the market, standing out with buyers requires clearly communicating unique differentiators. This is where strategic PR and marketing that builds credibility, and authority become essential.
If you’re an MSP, or another business that specialises in helping organisations with their cloud optimisation strategies, get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you cut through the competition with your buyers.