EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HELENA NIMMO , CIO AT ENDAVA
Because of inflation , supply chain disruptions , currency fluctuations , and looming threats such as the global chip shortage , the cost of IT solutions has been on the rise . And yet , with mounting economic pressures , the do more with less mantra continues to ring out loud , and IT leaders are being asked to keep costs as flat as possible .
And of course , they are being asked to do so without compromising the pace of digital acceleration , which often means continuing to invest in innovative technologies .
Serving these opposing objectives requires IT leaders to put on their sleuthing hats and identify those areas where budgetary bloat has thus far gone unnoticed and unchecked . They can start by reviewing contracts and vendors , where possible , with the view to reduce the running cost of IT . Most contracts tend to roll on year-on-year with a simple , cursory review .
However , this year , every IT leader should be looking more scrupulously at the usage of the services they run and the contracts that sit behind these services . Being prudent with license allocation and clawing back unused licenses after a determined period is one option . This exercise may even uncover services for which the utilisation is so low that the cost to impact equation becomes difficult to justify . technical competence to address the most frequently occurring issues themselves , or with minimal support .
A third option is to look at SaaS storage . Many SaaS providers charge a premium once you go over a certain storage limit . It is worth examining if you really need to store a document in the SaaS environment itself , or if a link to the document would suffice .
All of this does require a bit of detective work , but with some time spent on careful review , these activities usually reveal some surprising opportunities for cost savings , as well as some invaluable insight into how the services we buy are charged .
Most contracts tend to roll on year-on-year with a simple , cursory review .
Another option is to look at service contracts . Do you really need a platinum-level support contract , or is the gold or even silver option good enough ? There can be a significant difference in these costs and often , if you have a particular solution running for long enough , your in-house IT resources will have likely built up the
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