In today’s uncertain economic environment, moods and mottos have shifted.
It’s no longer, “growth at all costs.” As businesses tighten their belts, it’s now “sustainable and profitable growth.”
This isn’t a bad thing. During the last few years, growth at all costs has led to inefficient, redundant initiatives across many organisations. It has jolted businesses to adopt a new motto: spend smart. There are two primary ways to achieve this:
1. Improve efficiency.
2. Reduce expenses.
By working on both of these endeavours simultaneously, you can ensure strategic technology objectives are executed quickly and effectively.
Improve efficiency in a post-COVID world
To improve efficiency, you need a strong team. Full stop. A strong team consists of talented individuals, an organised team structure, and the use of impactful communication and collaboration tools.
COVID has proven that remote-first digital teams are extremely productive, and as we ease out of the pandemic, digital professionals still want to work this way.
When organisations embrace these remote-first teams, it also opens the door for team structures that are cost conscious. A hybrid team is all about finding the best talent, no matter where it is.
The ideal way to organise a hybrid team is with a local anchor.
A local anchor might be a senior software engineer or a product strategist who helps manage global team members. The great thing about this is that a product owner is still able to benefit from critical in-person meetings, while using virtual communication tools for check-ins, etc.
The benefit is access to a large talent pool at a reduced cost, all while still enjoying in-person and same-timezone meetings. This organisation is best achieved through culture, focus on top talent, and being ‘timezone aware’.
DEPT® capabilities on hybrid teams
As an agency, we are always analysing how to build teams cost-effectively, condensing months of work into a pragmatic plan. We work alongside organisations to create and optimise global teams to accelerate product development while minimising costs. Gain access to designers, developers, and product managers around the globe by contacting our team.
Reduce your technology & marketing expenses
Imagine a US sales team that uses Salesforce Marketing Cloud and a Canadian team that prefers Hubspot.
In a time of rapid growth, the ROI on these expenses is positive, and you overlook this inefficiency. But as sales start to slow down, two systems no longer benefit your organisation. You can easily picture a scenario where US and Canadian teams are merged into one North American team and one sales platform is selected. This initiative not only saves money, it creates one collaborative team that can share knowledge, workload, and a common language.
This scenario can happen over and over again across different teams and markets, resulting in a massive shadow IT problem. Shadow IT happens when teams go rogue and invest in their own solutions that only have a specific instance.
During periods of extreme growth, this is common because you want to move as fast as possible.
During times of cost reduction, it’s better to stop, analyse your teams and technology, and consolidate. It requires upfront work, but you can reorganise and reduce unnecessary tech and marketing expenses.
DEPT® capabilities on expense reduction
We have experience working alongside organisations to uncover inefficiencies in technology and technical processes. Specifically, we can help find cost savings via a tech audit. With a proven methodology and access to specialists in every digital discipline, we can quickly assess current spending and performance and outline where efficiencies and investments can be made. We recently conducted a tech audit for a global manufacturer and were able to create a tech consolidation strategy that reduced their annual operation costs by $2M.
Start saving today
Finding ways to consolidate your tech budget during a downturn or full-fledged recession is crucial. Having an outside partner help is a way to remove bias and make an impact when it matters most.
Contact us today.
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Global SVP Technology & Engineering