Why IT optimisation is more critical than ever for UK businesses

While there has been some great innovation in the industry recently, the past two years have undoubtedly stressed UK businesses. Recent world events have further intensified this, and we can see the ripples in the UK economy. The office of National Statistics (ONS) reports a 6.2% increase in prices in the last twelve months from February - and the Office of Budget Responsibility predicts inflation to average 7.4% in 2022, last week's Spring Forecast Statement by the UK government alluded to these points. It introduced several steps to support the rise in the cost of living in the UK - including a reduction in motorists' fuel duty and a council tax rebate to support households with energy bill payments. But what about businesses?

The advent of COVID-19 prepared us all to "expect the unexpected", adding a level of flexibility and focus on Adoption and Change Management. But the current state and predictions of the UK economy throughout 2022, particularly with rising energy bills, will put those measures to the test and most likely put a strain on many organisations.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer referenced in his Spring statement that tax-cutting options for the private sector and reform on R&D tax credits will be featured in his Autumn statement. But what can businesses do now to ensure they weather the rising costs and inflation? Optimising and managing your company's IT could be a great start.

For 2022, Gartner has forecast a worldwide IT spending growth of 5.1 per cent. Many companies have invested in new technology throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly at speed, to ensure remote working was possible for their employees and that their business IT, data management and cybersecurity match that new way of working. The pace at which these investments were made has led many organisations to face a certain amount of tech debt and deal with assets that have not reached the end of their lifecycle. Some may have even unknowingly doubled up on tech solutions or lost track of end-to-end IT infrastructure. Gaining visibility over your cloud services and infrastructure and optimising lifecycle roadmaps to balance performance and cost can therefore be a great way to govern your IT spend.

Organisations can further cut their costs by identifying wasted or unused software and hardware within their business and scrap solutions that may overlap. But organisations need to go one step further to "inflation-proof" their business. This requires taking a more holistic approach to their short and long-term business goals - and how IT can best support them on this journey. Having clear and detailed data to provide an overview of your organisation's IT budgets, and tech inventory is vital to successful IT governance, as are cost and contract terms agility. These steps can help future-proof your business and make well informed IT decisions throughout the coming year.

Every organisation will have plans to cut costs and make it through 2022 amidst the rising energy bills and increasing inflation levels. However, achieving outcomes around cost optimisation and better user and employee experience requires a more holistic approach, and a great deal of alignment between your business and IT.

Darren Hedley is UK Managing Director at Insight