Not because cloud is “too expensive,” but because the buying is often inefficient—and that’s where Cloud GTM leaders win.

5 highlights from what McKinsey discovered:

1. After reviewing $3B+ of cloud spend, they found 10–20% additional savings hiding in plain sight—mostly from procurement and operating disciplines.

2. For many enterprises, cloud is now one of the largest categories. In a mid-sized tech/retail company spending $30–40M/yr, that’s $3–8M left on the table.

3. Business executives often engage only once annual cloud costs cross $100M—by then, consumption patterns are entrenched. In smaller firms, many business leaders simply aren’t close to the numbers.

4. Up to 28% of spend is addressable waste (Flexera). Procurement teams are racing to optimize what McKinsey calls a “hard-to-crack” category that demands deep technical and commercial understanding.

5. Most FinOps teams spend ~80% of time on operational tasks (e.g., tagging) instead of strategic work like unit economics, forecasting, and decision support—the bigger leak is weak financial management, not line-item pricing.

AI acceleration challenge

AI workloads make demand forecasting volatile. With cloud revenues tracking toward $2T by 2030, companies lock into multi-year commits without fully understanding consumption patterns—creating both risk and opportunity for alliances.

This is not an anti-cloud narrative. If anything, McKinsey frames cloud as a major profitability lever for organizations that connect technical drivers to commercial levers.

That’s exactly where marketplaces shine - helping companies to use $469B in committed cloud spend more efficiently.

Why this matters for Alliance & Cloud GTM leaders

Marketplace = spend optimizer, not just channel

Customers with large commits can route purchases through AWS/Azure/GCP marketplaces to utilize budget, de-risk under-consumption, and accelerate approvals. Position your deal as commit management + outcomes, not “another vendor.”

Budget arbitrage is real

If procurement is asked to find 10–20% offsets, your marketplace-aligned offer is the offset: faster cycle times, cleaner paper, standardized terms, and measurable unit economics.

AI makes forecasting harder- marketplaces make buying easier

As AI spikes usage, finance will favor vendors who make commits predictable and auditable. Tie private offers to ramp schedules with clear consumption milestones.

Takeaway

Cloud spend isn’t the enemy—undisciplined buying is. McKinsey’s playbook elevates procurement to a growth lever.

If you’re an ISV, meet that moment: package your value as commit optimization, prove unit economics, and transact where the budget already lives—the marketplace.