Moving Beyond Cost: The Real ROI of Infrastructure

Currently, the conversation around infrastructure is centred on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), specifically the cost of maintenance. What we should be asking is: how much value is this technology delivering?

CJC’s global teams have seen first-hand how outages and failed system migrations are but symptoms of deeper organisational blind spots, which is why Sara and I are advocates of a shift in thinking, from viewing infrastructure as a cost centre to recognising it as a revenue enabler. This means treating infrastructure as a strategic asset that drives performance, reduces risk, and contributes directly to profitability.

People vs. Servers: The Hidden Bias

Let’s face it, most organisations treat technology as a background utility. It supports people, not the other way around. This mindset creates a false hierarchy where people are seen as value generators, and Infrastructure is just a necessary tool.

Think about how employee performance is assessed:

• Traders have a clear TCO consisting of salary, desk space, and equipment.
• Their profit and loss (P&L) contribution is tracked closely to evaluate ROI.
• If they underperform, it is noticed. If they exceed expectations, they are rewarded.

Now compare that with a group of servers running latency-sensitive trades or powering analytics. If they perform flawlessly, there is no recognition. If they fail, it is dismissed as just another IT issue. The reality is that server performance affects latency, execution quality, and revenue, but infrastructure is rarely evaluated using the same performance lens as human capital. This is a clear disconnect, and it is costing firms more than they realise.

The Problem with TCO-Only Thinking

Sara Baker, Global Head of Commercial Management, explains that when an IT leader sees a server costing $20,000 per year, without any performance or revenue context, the default response is often to cut costs. This leads to decisions such as extending server lifespans or replacing high-performance servers with more cost-effective alternatives.

On paper, these are sound decisions, but when the “cost-effective” option causes downtime during a market event, the financial and reputational impact can be enormous. In the capital markets, where milliseconds matter, relying solely on short-sighted TCO decisions creates long-term risk.

The same issue applies to vendor selection. Choosing the lowest licensing fee might reduce spending today, but it often compromises performance tomorrow.

Infrastructure Excellence Model: Learning from Aviation

To understand how infrastructure should be treated, look to the aviation sector. It operates on complete trust in its technology. No one steps onto a plane unless they believe the systems supporting it are reliable. That trust is backed by decades of investment, rigorous design, and safety protocols. By contrast, capital markets, an industry handling far more money, often operate on three- to five-year infrastructure cycles. System failures are tolerated, investment is deferred, and when issues arise, they are usually dismissed rather than being systemically addressed.

Failures in aviation trigger full investigations, industry-wide standards, and long-term improvements. With high engineering standards, its systems are built to last 20 to 30 years.

The stakes in the financial markets are different, but the principle is the same. Infrastructure is mission-critical and deserves the same level of respect and investment. To put it in perspective, aviation is forecast to generate $934 billion in revenue by 2025, compared with the capital markets, which operate on a scale measured in the trillions. However, it is the aviation industry's infrastructure-first mindset, not the capital markets, that leads the way.

A Better Way Forward: Connecting ROI to Infrastructure

Mistakes will happen and systems will occasionally fail, but if the mentality around cost and contributions shifts, firms can better manage these risks. The goal is to recognise technology as a contributor to both revenue and brand reputation. Once that connection is made, outages become increasingly rare, not routine failures caused by underinvestment. So, what can firms do differently?

At CJC, we are helping organisations apply a Return on Investment (ROI) lens to infrastructure-related decisions. That means looking beyond just TCO and considering:

1. Revenue generated by specific systems or services.
2. The financial impact of potential downtime.
3. Long-term planning aligned with business strategy.

This approach reframes the entire value conversation. For example, a server may cost $20,000 per year, but it might enable $2 million in trading revenue. The potential loss during a high-volume trading period if a server fails because of a cost-saving initiative could far exceed the annual cost. This insight provides IT leaders the context they need to defend or even expand budgets based on value, not just spend.

Turning Cost Data Into Strategic Insight

Infrastructure costs are usually fragmented across departments at many financial firms. Finance handles depreciation, IT tracks licensing, and market data teams monitor usage. Rarely are these connected in one cohesive view.

That is where CJC adds value by providing:

• Integrated cost and performance reporting.
• Revenue attribution for servers and infrastructure assets.
• Lifecycle planning aligned with business outcomes.

Putting ROI Into Practice:

At one firm, we helped integrate ROI directly into the infrastructure reporting process by building a ‘full asset register’ showing depreciation alongside infrastructure-driven revenue. This created real ROI visibility. At another client, the team went even further by tracking the applied internal surcharge to brokers, creating business-unit-level accountability to align supplier costs against maintenance, admin, and ongoing operational costs.

These approaches are still uncommon in the industry, but they demonstrate what is possible when cost and value are considered side-by-side. The initiatives have helped clients justify smarter investment decisions, reduce unnecessary risk, and enhance operational resilience.

Final Thoughts: Reap Rewards from Respected Infrastructure

While aviation infrastructure is driven by safety, financial market infrastructure needs to be driven by security, performance and profitability. Infrastructure is not just a line item in an IT budget, and by applying an ROI perspective, financial firms can make smarter, more deliberate decisions about their infrastructure. This not only helps prevent outages, but also supports growth, innovation and long-term resilience.

Infrastructure is not just about keeping systems online. It keeps the business moving forward, safely and profitably. By moving from a TCO-only approach to one that includes ROI, firms can:

• Make better upgrade and vendor decisions.
• Plan for long-term resilience.
• Justify investment based on real business contribution.