Blog C2 ITSM | Powerful and flexible IT Service Management

Reducing costs with a service management solution

Written by The C2 team | Aug 5, 2014 1:25:00 PM

As the morning sun streamed into his workspace, John was already immersed in his thoughts about the IT department. He couldn't ignore the frustration of his support staff, who were often burdened with repetitive and redundant tasks just to complete their work. Despite his efforts to push these thoughts aside, his IT director's mind couldn't help but recognize the pressing need for a service management solution to meet the productivity standards expected by the C-Level executives.

With the organization grappling with escalating costs beyond his control - from competitive pressures to rising facility and human resource expenses, outdated IT systems, and the challenges of growth and acquisitions - John knew he had to take action. Embracing the consolidation path, he realized the importance of rationalizing IT costs to align with the business's needs. It was clear to him that a strategic shift was necessary to address the financial strain exacerbated by outdated and inefficient data systems.

"The key," he mused, "lies in effectively rationalizing IT costs while staying true to the business's requirements." The urgency of the situation propelled him to seek a service management solution that could not only cut costs but also enhance performance, collaboration, and transparency within his IT department.

John has watched his company’s IT assets accumulate into a hodgepodge of equipment, causing “IT sprawl” that contributed to ineffective work-floor space and energy overuse. Additionally, the legacy equipment is redundant, and overly complex software must be updated, managed, and worked around, causing a loss in productivity to the rest of the teams.

The thoughts that John could not brush aside earlier in the day did drive him to answer the question of how to find solutions to rationalize IT costs. He knew that an efficient IT department could protect his enterprise’s money from “falling through the cracks.” Potentially, his team could save up to:  

  • 80% on performance issues through proactive correction measures
  • 35% on troubleshooting performance issues
  • 35% increase in staff productivity
  • 22% increase in revenue as a result of system resource free ups 
  • 22% reduced expenses related to legacy system hardware
  • 16% increased satisfaction resulting from complied Service Level Agreements
    And much more.

John’s IT department could save money it had never calculated it was spending. If he implements the service management solution, he will have the chance to rationalize IT costs more effectively by benefiting from process automation leverage and service request centralization.

Coming to this stark realization, John sourced several reputable companies online and picked up the telephone. He began to engage in valuable discussions and dialogue about their specific IT requirements, consulting with several highly qualified professionals who asked him key questions to reduce the gap between the increasing financial requirements of business and the decreasing budget allotted to his IT department. Here are some key questions and planning elements that were discussed:

  1. What does your software portfolio currently entail?
  2. Is all software currently being employed?
  3. Does your software run smoothly with all other applications?
  4. Do you have a list of priorities if you decide to replace or phase out any software or hardware?

He got a good picture and began thinking about an appropriate ITSM solution. An easy-to-use and adapt one.

Out of these discussions, John knew he had to select a provider that he could rely on to interpret his company’s specific information challenges correctly; challenges that may include:    

  • Outdated clients lists  
  • Unnecessary redundancy
  • Overlapping functionality  
  • Unnecessary complexity   
  • Unnecessary evaluation and testing integrations  
  • Unused or underused software   
  • Duplicated or non-streamlined software architectures   

John knows that the above list combines to cause the IT system to become increasingly dysfunctional over time. This translates into an increasing pattern of wasted precious resources.   

The service management solution he will choose will respond to his cost reduction need while helping his team with performance optimization, improved collaboration and higher transparency standards. 

A service management solution has also proven to increase agility while improving his company’s bottom line through:

  • improvement of daily operation efficiency
  • freeing more staff and resources to work on productive projects
  • professionalism while reducing costs and overhead

Now, he needs to build a case to present the overall project to the management. Sigh. John returned to work with a motivated smile.