5 Best Practices to Reduce Your IT Project Spend
Next to real estate and salaries/benefits, your IT equipment is your company’s biggest spend. It doesn’t matter if you’re a startup or a Fortune 100 company; your IT project spend takes up a sizable slice of your budget. As an IT director or business owner, you know that a key way to reduce spend and improve your company’s profitability is to manage your IT projects with great care.
Unfortunately, many IT projects partially or completely fail, leading to:
- Wasted time and resources for your IT department
- Missed opportunities because of the inability to communicate effectively with new leads
- And worse, potentially damaging relationships with clients and customers
As the Blow Monkeys once sang, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
5 Best Practices to Reduce IT Project Spend
1. Clearly Define the Scope and Objectives of the Project
It’s essential to have a clear understanding of what the project is trying to accomplish and to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page. Creating a ServiceNow® roadmap will help ensure that the project stays on track and that resources are used efficiently.
To get a better handle on your ServiceNow roadmap, check out our recent webinar, “On-Demand Webinar: Demystifying the ServiceNow Journey to Digital Transformation with a Simple Roadmap.”
2. Set Realistic Deadlines and Budgets
It’s important to be ambitious, but it’s even more imperative to be realistic about what can be accomplished within a certain time frame and with the resources available. Setting unrealistic deadlines or budgets can lead to burnout, frustration, and project failure.
So get your heads out of the cloud and set realistic deadlines and budgets, and prep yourself by setting up a sound project schedule that includes your timelines, needed resources, and headcounts with experienced project managers who can best plan schedules and sensible budgets to complete a project.
3. Communicate Effectively With Team Members and Stakeholders
Good communication is key to the success of any project. Establishing regular communications between your teams prevents confusion and conflicts from slowing down projects and keeps your teams aligned with the project goals. Make sure that everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities, and keep them informed of progress and any changes to the project plan.
With effective communication in place, it’s easy to maintain transparency across all parts of project management
4. Use Proven Project Management Methods
There are many different approaches to project management, but some are more effective than others. Consider using a proven methodology like Agile or Scrum to help keep the project on track and ensure it is delivered on time and within budget.
Other methodologies include Kanban, Lean, Waterfall, and Prince2, to name a few.
5. Monitor Progress and Make Adjustments as Needed
No project is perfect, and it’s important to be prepared to make changes as needed to keep the project moving forward, including revising the project plan, adjusting deadlines, or bringing in additional resources. This may involve revising the project plan, adjusting deadlines, or bringing in additional resources. By regularly monitoring progress and making adjustments as needed, you can increase the chances of success for your IT projects.
Following these tips can reduce the chances of IT project failure and save your business time, effort, and money, resulting in a successful project.
When you want to reduce your IT spend, you’ll need the right tools to do it.
Reach out to us and learn more about how you can reduce your spend.
