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Enterprises Looking to AI for Smarter IT Management

Enterprises are turning to AI-powered software platforms to make IT management more intelligent and ensure their systems and technology meet business needs for efficiency, lowers costs and innovation, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

The ISG Buyers Guides™ for IT Management, produced by ISG Software Research, find AI plays a growing role in comprehensive software frameworks for IT observability, operations management and FinOps. The need for IT management software is growing, the research says, as enterprises transition to more agile and cloud-centric architectures. AI-powered software is also helping enterprises manage and optimize the delivery, performance and responsiveness of IT services.

"IT leaders need effective operations and service management more than ever for resilience and long-term success," said Jeff Orr, Research Director for IT, ISG Software Research. "Enterprises are adopting multiple tools and platforms to support ongoing IT innovation while controlling costs."

Economic pressures, heightened cybersecurity risks and the growing need to support hybrid and remote workers have intensified the need for software that helps manage and operate IT systems and services. CIOs and IT leaders often cite these trends when building a business case for new investments in this area, ISG says.

Enterprises are strategically integrating AIOps, which uses machine learning to automate IT processes, and holistic observability practices, which help companies understand the state of IT systems through their outputs, the reports say. Together, these approaches enable real-time monitoring of application performance and infrastructure health, and provide the ability to predict and mitigate potential issues, allowing companies deliver high-quality IT services with less manual intervention. Through 2026, ISG expects 40% of enterprises to fund AIOps strategies to streamline operations and optimize resources.

AI is enabling IT teams to generate insights from vast amounts of data, the reports say. By 2027, ISG expects software providers to release GenAI-driven tools for processes such as incident management, resource allocation and performance forecasting. GenAI is also changing IT service management, introducing features such as automatic command-line generation to help teams handle service requests.

In the future, agentic AI will enable intelligent workflows with semi-autonomous actions and decisions to manage incidents in real time, ISG says. Self-healing mechanisms driven by agentic AI may be able to resolve issues automatically, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives. However, the reports say, enterprises need to be aware of unique challenges involving governance, compliance, business risk and other aspects of these emerging technologies.

As companies move more data and workloads to the cloud, FinOps is becoming a critical tool for managing costs and finances. FinOps strategies foster collaboration among finance, IT and business teams to share responsibility for managing costs and resource consumption. ISG expects one in five enterprises to invest in coordinated FinOps efforts by IT and finance departments through 2026.

"CIO and IT leaders are looking to unify the management of their IT environments and technology services through software made more intelligent with AI," said Mark Smith, chief software analyst and partner, ISG Software Research. "For the first time, our portfolio of IT management software research introduces a unified framework for evaluating software providers and products operating in this space."

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Enterprises Looking to AI for Smarter IT Management

Enterprises are turning to AI-powered software platforms to make IT management more intelligent and ensure their systems and technology meet business needs for efficiency, lowers costs and innovation, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

The ISG Buyers Guides™ for IT Management, produced by ISG Software Research, find AI plays a growing role in comprehensive software frameworks for IT observability, operations management and FinOps. The need for IT management software is growing, the research says, as enterprises transition to more agile and cloud-centric architectures. AI-powered software is also helping enterprises manage and optimize the delivery, performance and responsiveness of IT services.

"IT leaders need effective operations and service management more than ever for resilience and long-term success," said Jeff Orr, Research Director for IT, ISG Software Research. "Enterprises are adopting multiple tools and platforms to support ongoing IT innovation while controlling costs."

Economic pressures, heightened cybersecurity risks and the growing need to support hybrid and remote workers have intensified the need for software that helps manage and operate IT systems and services. CIOs and IT leaders often cite these trends when building a business case for new investments in this area, ISG says.

Enterprises are strategically integrating AIOps, which uses machine learning to automate IT processes, and holistic observability practices, which help companies understand the state of IT systems through their outputs, the reports say. Together, these approaches enable real-time monitoring of application performance and infrastructure health, and provide the ability to predict and mitigate potential issues, allowing companies deliver high-quality IT services with less manual intervention. Through 2026, ISG expects 40% of enterprises to fund AIOps strategies to streamline operations and optimize resources.

AI is enabling IT teams to generate insights from vast amounts of data, the reports say. By 2027, ISG expects software providers to release GenAI-driven tools for processes such as incident management, resource allocation and performance forecasting. GenAI is also changing IT service management, introducing features such as automatic command-line generation to help teams handle service requests.

In the future, agentic AI will enable intelligent workflows with semi-autonomous actions and decisions to manage incidents in real time, ISG says. Self-healing mechanisms driven by agentic AI may be able to resolve issues automatically, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives. However, the reports say, enterprises need to be aware of unique challenges involving governance, compliance, business risk and other aspects of these emerging technologies.

As companies move more data and workloads to the cloud, FinOps is becoming a critical tool for managing costs and finances. FinOps strategies foster collaboration among finance, IT and business teams to share responsibility for managing costs and resource consumption. ISG expects one in five enterprises to invest in coordinated FinOps efforts by IT and finance departments through 2026.

"CIO and IT leaders are looking to unify the management of their IT environments and technology services through software made more intelligent with AI," said Mark Smith, chief software analyst and partner, ISG Software Research. "For the first time, our portfolio of IT management software research introduces a unified framework for evaluating software providers and products operating in this space."

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According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...