I've been part of exciting conversations with desk heads attempting to justify database licensing fees in flat/falling trading environments where traders and people are being let go.
Given those experiences, I personally stopped optimizing for today's flush tech budget. I now budget for what I know is a realistically shitty future state of affairs where we have to keep the lights on [1] while spending as little as possible.
[1] The one worse thing you can tell a trader during a 2008-level crisis than "I need more money for databases" is "you can't trade, we don't have enough capacity to handle the additional market vol".
Given those experiences, I personally stopped optimizing for today's flush tech budget. I now budget for what I know is a realistically shitty future state of affairs where we have to keep the lights on [1] while spending as little as possible.
[1] The one worse thing you can tell a trader during a 2008-level crisis than "I need more money for databases" is "you can't trade, we don't have enough capacity to handle the additional market vol".