As IT leaders plan for 2026, many are facing budget constraints, rising inflation, and increasing pressure to modernize their legacy environments. Whether it's rethinking virtualization, upgrading legacy enterprise applications, or simply making the most with what they have, the need for strategic and cost-effective IT decisions has never been more crucial for ongoing operations.
Here are five key areas CIOs, CTOs, and IT directors should evaluate as they finalize their 2026 budgets.
The VMware-Broadcom acquisition has caused panic and frustration among IT leaders. Organizations are being hit with increased licensing costs, rigid contract terms, and unpredictable support experiences.
This presents an opportunity to look at alternatives like Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (OLVM). It offers roughly 80% of VMware’s capabilities, and most of the skills needed to manage VMware environments directly transfer over. The best part? OLVM is a fraction of the cost.
For IT leaders under pressure to reduce spending while maintaining stability, moving to OLVM provides quick savings without a steep learning curve.
Many organizations are debating whether they are ready for a full cloud migration in 2026, but that doesn’t mean the only other option is keeping the status quo. A phased, hybrid cloud strategy is often the smarter move.
Shifting select workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) provides a lower-risk, lower-cost way to modernize gradually. It’s highly flexible, cost-efficient, and helps IT teams gain cloud experience without overcommitting and overwhelming them. Cloud DR, dev/test environments, or legacy database migrations are great places to start.
This approach keeps budgets in check while delivering real improvements right away.
There’s a strong interest in Oracle Fusion applications, but the move can be a high-cost maneuver if approached all at once. A smarter option is to first move on-prem applications or infrastructure into OCI, then adopt Fusion in a phased two-to-three-year timeline.
Doing it this way spreads costs over time, lowers risk, and builds momentum with internal teams. It’s efficient, budget-friendly, and ultimately sets the stage for long-term modernization.
Eclipsys offers a structured program that simplifies this entire process. A single agreement covers both the move to OCI and the eventual transition to Fusion. The best part? The risk is on us. This model gives organizations budget control, faster time to value, and a clear modernization roadmap without the heavy lift up front.
Many IT teams are operating with fewer people and more responsibilities. For organizations managing Oracle applications like EBS or Fusion, Application Managed Services can deliver quick relief.
Application Managed Services also allow companies to offload routine support while keeping their systems running smoothly. It’s predictable, cost-effective, and frees up internal staff to focus on innovation, rather than break-fix work.
In a margin-focused budget world, this kind of support model makes both financial and operational sense.
AI is everywhere, but most organizations aren’t ready for a full-scale rollout. Instead of pushing big AI initiatives, look for targeted use cases that drive efficiency and save time.
Examples include automating financial close processes, simplifying HR onboarding, or using embedded analytics in Fusion apps. Oracle already includes AI features in many tools, so organizations can take advantage without adding cost or complexity.
These wins may be small, but they compound quickly, and they’re easier to budget for in the short term.
2026 will be the year when smart, phased investments outperform big, risky bets. Whether it's shifting from VMware to OLVM, using OCI as a stepping stone to Fusion, or reducing operational costs through Application Managed Services, the right moves are the ones that balance efficiency with long-term value.
Eclipsys works with organizations across industries to help build and execute these strategies. Whether the goal is to modernize infrastructure, adopt Fusion, or simply save on licensing, the right path forward starts with a conversation.