Navigating the Cost-Optimization Maze: How TBaaS Implements Gartner's Key Strategies for MSEs

Gartner has recommended three action-oriented initiatives to optimize costs and fund innovation for midsize enterprise (MSE) CIOs:

1.       Master IT financial transparency: CIOs need a clear, holistic view of IT spending across the company to highlight inefficiencies and overspending. The first step should be to assess how much of the budget is being spent on run spending, i.e., "keeping the lights on." Reassess annual maintenance contracts before resigning and determine if it's time to re-evaluate or negotiate.

2.       Consolidate and simplify infrastructure: The goal is standardization and consolidation. Multifunction security appliances, hyperconverged infrastructure appliances, and standardization of desktop and application platforms can help reduce staff support time.

3.       Consider or reconsider cloud and managed services: Cloud and anything-as-a-service (XaaS) solutions can deal with skill gaps and limited staff. These options reduce the amount of time staff needs to spend on low-value activities, enabling IT staff to contribute strategically and allocate resources toward innovation and business initiatives, and away from day-to-day maintenance. These solutions also fill skills gaps in areas where MSEs tend to struggle.

TBaaS (Technology Brokerage-as-a-Service) can help operationalize the three action-oriented initiatives to optimize costs in several ways:

TEM evaluation: TBaaS can assist with the evaluation of TEM solutions to ensure that the most effective solution is chosen. This can include reviewing current expenses, identifying areas of overspending, and providing recommendations for cost optimization. TBaaS can also negotiate contracts and provide ongoing management to ensure that the TEM solution is effectively reducing costs.

Cloud provider evaluation: TBaaS can evaluate various cloud providers to ensure that the most cost-effective and efficient solution is selected. This can include reviewing pricing, features, and services offered by different providers, and providing recommendations for the best fit. TBaaS can also assist with negotiating contracts and managing cloud provider relationships to ensure ongoing cost optimization.

MSP/MSSP evaluation: TBaaS can help evaluate MSP and MSSP solutions to ensure that the best fit for the organization is selected. This can include reviewing pricing, services offered, and other features, and providing recommendations for the most cost-effective solution. TBaaS can also negotiate contracts and manage relationships with MSPs and MSSPs to ensure ongoing cost optimization.

Standardization, consolidation, and simplification:

TBaaS can provide guidance and recommendations for standardization, consolidation, and simplification of infrastructure. This can include evaluating the organization's current infrastructure and identifying areas of inefficiency and overspending. TBaaS can then provide recommendations for consolidation and simplification to reduce costs while maintaining the necessary functionality of the infrastructure.

Overall, TBaaS can provide valuable expertise and guidance to help operationalize these three action-oriented initiatives and optimize costs. By providing ongoing management and monitoring of expenses, TBaaS can ensure that the organization is maximizing the value of each operational dollar spent on technology and personnel to fund transformation initiatives.

Ron Salazar

CEO - MR2 Solutions