Tackling Shadow IT and Optimising Business IT Spend

The Challenge

The client (a market leading motoring company), identified significant increases in business IT spend on applications, infrastructure, and services that were thought to have been purchased outside of central processes.

With an estimated £1.1M identified in potential annual savings, the organisation sought to regain control, reduce risk, and rationalise spend across the business IT technology estate.

Our Objectives

Identify and catalogue all elements of business IT components across the organisation.
Understand the business rationale behind non-IT-led technology spend.
Shape a rationalisation programme to enable the reduction of duplication, risk, and cost.
Deliver a roadmap to achieve targeted savings in FY26.

The Approach

Discovery & Analysis:

Conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the business IT estate concerning capabilities and technologies, along with gaps and operational dependencies.
Reviewed SaaS tools, third-party apps, and personal device integration.
Mapped business IT spend using finance-sourced data to validate cost reduction estimates and identify and quantify areas of opportunity for cost savings.

Rationalisation Strategy:

Grouped systems by function, usage, and business value.
Prioritised opportunities based on cost, risk, and alignment with strategic goals.
Proposed a service catalogue and capability map to guide future governance.

Collaboration:

Worked closely with Finance, Procurement, and Architecture teams.
Facilitated executive-level discussions to align on remediation and investment priorities.

The Outcomes

Identified over £400K in immediate savings, with a further £700K targeted through rationalisation.
Delivered a fully populated business IT component catalogue and risk assessment.
Developed a high-level roadmap for execution, including sequencing and ownership.
Positioned the client to make informed decisions on future IT investments and governance, including a series of recommendations around governance, process, and organisation to support future management of the estate.