South African organisations are shifting technology spending away from upfront purchases and towards flexible consumption models, as exchange rate volatility and imported technology costs drive up the lifetime cost of hardware ownership, says David Buck, general manager (South Africa), InnoVent.
Buck said what may appear cost-effective at the point of purchase can often prove considerably more expensive over the lifecycle of the asset, as devices, infrastructure and end-user computing environments must continually evolve to keep pace with changing security requirements, hybrid working, AI adoption and productivity demands.
"South African CFOs and CIOs are placing greater emphasis on total cost of ownership rather than upfront acquisition costs alone," Buck said. "Organisations are exploring more flexible consumption models that allow them to align technology expenditure with actual business usage while preserving capital for strategic growth initiatives. We believe technology should be consumed and not owned."
This is not the first time Buck has made this case.
ITWeb reported in June that InnoVent was seeing demand from clients looking to shift more than 60% of their technology spend into OPEX-aligned leasing and rental models, as currency pressures and delayed refresh cycles left many organisations carrying a backlog of ageing infrastructure.
In March, Buck had already warned that semiconductor-driven price volatility was "hitting financial models harder than operational ones."
Buck said the conversation is shifting away from simply owning technology towards ensuring it remains current, secure and fit for purpose throughout its lifecycle.
He added that what happens at end-of-life matters equally: "Organisations must place a greater focus on responsible asset management, secure data disposal and environmental sustainability, recognising that procurement decisions increasingly have both financial and governance implications. The most important question is no longer what technology costs to buy, but what it costs to own, manage and replace over time," he said.
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