The intelligent cloud and edge market is a broader software market that includes financial operations (FinOps) and cloud cost transparency–related products. According to an IDC survey in 4Q24, large organizations had a median of three public clouds in active use today, and 75% had implemented FinOps teams to address this cloud spend.
Enterprises have many options when selecting a paid cloud cost management solution to help optimize their cloud investments. However, many enterprises today tell IDC they use the FinOps tools provided by their hyperscaler. These tools are typically low cost or no cost for the end customer. In the past, these tools offered fairly basic capabilities that enabled enterprises to download and analyze their cloud spending via spreadsheets. Today, these tools provide advanced analytics, proactive recommendations, and even artificial intelligence (AI)–enabled assistants.
While the overall market for paid vendors is expected to exceed 100 vendors, as tracked by IDC for 2025, this document focuses solely on the offerings of the five largest global hyperscalers. Using a free hyperscaler cloud cost optimization product, either on its own or in conjunction with paid tools, is an option that IT leaders may wish to consider.
