Optimise to Innovate – Streamline IT costs to drive innovation.

For over 37 years, Trustmarque has served as a reliable technology partner, aiding its customers in navigating numerous IT challenges. In the current climate, the need to reduce costs, tighten budgets, and optimise licensing to free up funds for new technological investments is more critical than ever due to constrained IT budgets. This trend is prevalent across the industry, not just at Trustmarque. Therefore, why is “optimise to innovate” essential, and what does the process look like for customers?

What does “Optimise to Innovate” mean?

“Optimise to Innovate” is a strategic approach that prioritises the optimisation of existing IT investments to liberate resources and budgets for innovation and growth. The objective is to enable organisations to manage their operational expenses more efficiently, thereby allowing the reinvestment of savings into new technologies and IT projects.

This approach involves several key elements:

• Cost Savings: Optimise Microsoft investments by reducing expenses and better allocating your budget through efficient license usage.
• Modernising Applications: Improve performance and user experience on the Power Platform with expert guidance.
• Strategic Vision: Develop a strategic vision aligned with your growth goals, creating a roadmap for future innovations.

What is the common reason for IT overspend?

Cloud sprawl is a prevalent cause of IT overspending in organisations. It arises when an organisation’s cloud resources, such as instances, services, and data stores, expand without adequate visibility, governance, and optimisation. This uncontrolled growth can lead to increased costs, inefficiencies, and security vulnerabilities. The following are common causes of cloud sprawl:

• Lack of visibility and control: When organisations do not have a comprehensive view of their cloud resources and usage, it becomes challenging to manage their cloud inventory effectively. This can result in redundant or idle resources.
• Rapid growth: The pace of deploying new cloud resources can outstrip an organisation’s ability to manage and govern them properly. Without a comprehensive strategy, the rapid addition of new services can lead to a proliferation of disparate and uncontrolled cloud resources.
• Decentralised decision-making: In larger organisations, individual teams or departments might independently initiate new cloud services without a unified strategy. This can lead to overlapping resources and inefficiencies.
• Poor cloud governance: Without proper policies and procedures in place to manage cloud resources, organisations may encounter difficulties in controlling their cloud environment. This can result in underutilised resources and suboptimal purchasing decisions.
• Inadequate optimisation: Failing to regularly review and optimise cloud resources can lead to unnecessary costs and inefficiencies. Organisations need to implement cost monitoring and reporting to ensure they are maximising their cloud investments.

How can I optimise my IT investments?

Prism, a service offered by Trustmarque, provides visibility into cloud deployments along with insights to optimise spending. It includes services for both Azure and Microsoft 365 (M365). Prism for Azure helps organisations manage and optimise their Azure resources, while Prism for M365 aids in managing Microsoft license consumption and offers insights for optimisation across the M365 user base.

Using Prism, companies can achieve better visibility into their cloud deployments and obtain actionable insights for cost management and reduction. This process involves identifying inactive and disabled user accounts, addressing duplicate licensing, and refining user profiles. Resource optimisation can free up budget and capacity, allowing organisations to invest in new technologies and projects. For example, Prism for M365 provides insights and recommendations for optimisation across the M365 user base, leading to potential cost savings. These savings can then be redirected towards the adoption of new technologies and innovative solutions, such as AI-driven projects and advanced analytics.

Additionally, Prism’s dashboards offer an executive-level view of the Microsoft estate, making it easier for decision-makers to identify areas for improvement and innovation without needing a comprehensive understanding of the underlying tools and portals. This approach enhances efficiency and fosters a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the organisation.

How does optimising my IT investments allow for innovation?

Optimising your IT investments is crucial for fostering innovation within your organisation. By streamlining operations, automating tasks, and updating applications, you can free up resources and budget that can be redirected towards new technologies and IT projects. Here’s how this process works:

• Cost Savings: By identifying cost-saving opportunities within your Microsoft investments, such as reducing expenses and optimising license usage, you can better allocate your budget. This allows you to invest in innovative projects without increasing overall spending
• Modernising Applications: Enhancing applications, particularly those on the Power Platform, can improve performance and user experience. Trustmarque provides expert guidance to help you modernise your applications, making them more efficient and effective
• Strategic Vision: Crafting and executing a strategic vision that aligns with your goals for sustainable growth is essential. Trustmarque helps you create a roadmap for future innovations, ensuring that your IT investments are aligned with your long-term objectives

For example, using Prism’s advanced analytics, businesses can target their most valuable users during the pilot phase of M365 Copilot deployment, ensuring that those who will benefit the most from the AI assistant are prioritised for full rollout. This targeted approach maximises ROI and ensures that resources are not wasted on users who may not fully utilise the AI tool.

To summarise

By adopting the “optimise to innovate” approach, organisations can achieve more with less, ensuring they are ready for the challenges of modern business environments. This strategy not only helps in managing operational expenses more efficiently but also paves the way for sustainable growth and long-term success.