If you’re like most businesses, the software you use is the lifeblood of your work. Having the right software tools allows you to automate mundane tasks, enhance basic work functions, and unlock new capabilities so you can increase productivity and make work more manageable, all with a nice return on your investment.
But this is only the case if you’re actually using all the software you’re purchasing. The reality is most businesses aren’t even using the software they have to its full potential. Not only that, they may even have redundancies in their tech stack, using multiple pieces of software for the same purpose.
It’s no secret that SaaS products have grown exponentially over the past five years. Initially, the SaaS bump came as more businesses came to see the value of software for their work operations. From 2018 to 2020, business software spending increased by 50 percent. Then, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for software only grew even more as work-life dynamics shifted.
From 2018 to 2020, business software spending increased 50 percent
But, while business leaders understand what software can do for them, they are increasingly becoming frustrated and disappointed with their chosen applications. On average, companies churn through about 30 percent of their software every year. The reason? They’re unsatisfied with their SaaS products, whether that be because they’re failing to deliver the ROI that was promised or because it simply doesn’t do what they want it to do.
There are a variety of factors that go into technology waste. To audit your tech stack, there are a few questions you can ask yourself:
Answering these questions can go a long way in reducing your total IT budget. Most software solutions come in the form of monthly subscriptions.
Eliminating unused and redundant software can save your business thousands of dollars a year
In addition, finding better software solutions to replace your existing SaaS products can further reduce costs.
It can be challenging to answer all those questions on your own. Depending on your business role, you may be unable to answer all those questions, whether due to not having enough direct experience with the software and its users or simply the time to research and answer them.
That’s where Platform Consulting comes in. Platform consulting is a technology service that helps you determine what should be in your tech stack. Getting help from a platform consultant will enable you to reduce your IT budget and get a better return on your software investment, while keeping only the best and most useful software in your technology portfolio.
If you’re ready for a little help with your tech stack audit, Open Path is here to help. We work with various businesses and have learned how to ask and answer the right questions to optimize your suite of software solutions.