Pandemic proves value of IT investment but also results in untapped cost-saving opportunities
IT budgets are predicted to increase by 5% in 20231 making the outlook bright for IT directors wanting to enhance their operations. However, the economic climate means that competition for budgets will be tight and this in turn will put pressure to reduce wastage and drive out underutilisation of tools.
An estimated one third of annual budget spent on the Cloud is ‘wasted’2. Many IT solutions implemented during the pandemic are being underutilised. Leading cloud services and connectivity provider M247 have identified the top five ways that most businesses can help reduce unnecessary IT spending.
Nathan Carroll, Product Manager for Public Cloud, at M247 explains, “The power of technology to transform and enhance businesses often comes into its own in challenging economic times. Never has this been truer than during the pandemic, where the benefits that wholesale digital transformation brought to many businesses have convinced C-suite executives that this is a priority for investment. However, with inflation on the rise, budgets are under increasing pressure and in the last few months alone there has been a noticeable increase in many standard IT subscriptions.
“The speed of transformation has also increased the likelihood that many tools have been poorly integrated or not fully adopted across the business. There is an opportunity to revisit these programmes with the aim of improving integration standards and their adoption and value to the business.
“To help in this process we have reviewed one of the most popular transformation areas over the last few years – Microsoft 365 Subscriptions and have identified five ways to help save money and better manage cash flow.”
An average of 59% of Microsoft 365 licenses are inactive, underutilised or unassigned. One example cost-saving is to carry out a simple license configuration to ensure you are only paying for the licenses and permission levels needed.
Nathan added “There are almost a quarter of a million businesses subscribing to Microsoft products and services in the UK. However many are unaware of the option to appoint a Microsoft Partner of Record, who is able to ensure operations run as efficiently as possible but can also offer instant savings of 5% against annual subscriptions. Nominate a Partner of Record and they will handle your Microsoft billing on your behalf, which also helps to manage cash flow.
“Re-familiarising yourself with IT contracts can also help to ensure you are making decisions at the right time and making use of break clauses and notice periods to cancel or renegotiate.”
M247’s top money-saving tips are:
1. Run a licence configuration check
Get an instant view on how your licenses compare with the number of people who need access as well as the level of access they require.
2. Review license user permissions
License allocation generally becomes outdated over time as people leave and rolls change. Reviewing user permissions allows you to downgrade licenses where necessary and save money.
3. Unlock the power of reporting suites to inform business decisions
Tools such as Microsoft Reporting Suite can often help you to make better, data-driven business decisions as well as improve the ROI from your subscription.
4. Undertake security checks
This is key to minimising security risks but also maximising staff productivity
5. Appoint a Partner of Record
This instantly saves you 5% on your annual subscription as well as helping to optimise costs and cash flow.
“As times look set to get tougher for many organisations, taking these steps to ensure your existing operations are optimised could be valuable and will allow you to be confident that every penny of IT spend is being used to enhance your business.”
To discuss how M247 can support your business with escalating IT costs, and how we can become your nominated Partner Of Record, get in touch today
1SWZD The 2023 State of IT; 2Flexera State of the Cloud 2022
