The Next Competitive Advantage: Knowing Exactly What You’re Paying For in IT

Introduction

Many organisations are spending more on technology each year while getting less in return. A 2024 SaaS Management Index report from Zylo found that organisations waste an average of $18 million each year on unused or underused software licences. These costs drain resources that could otherwise be used to fund growth, innovation, or build a stronger security.

This makes cost visibility a competitive advantage. Leaders who can see exactly what is in use and what is sitting idle can move money to the projects that matter most instead of letting it disappear into unused licences or oversized systems.

Understanding the landscape

Most IT environments have grown layer upon layer over time. Whereas old licences are still renewed automatically, servers stay oversized long after demand has stabilised, and departments provision new systems without retiring the old ones. This usually happens as companies grow, merge with others, or shift priorities, and the extra technology simply stays in place.

The impact is easy to see once you examine it closely. Budgets are tied up in technology that no longer earns its keep. A database licence sized for peak loads five years ago may now be half idle. A contract signed under different terms may continue renewing even though better options exist. When dozens of such small inefficiencies accumulate, the organisation is left with an IT estate that is both expensive and difficult to justify to the board.

The job now is to make the numbers clear and easy to act on. That means showing where money can be saved right away, pointing out which systems should be improved or brought up to date, and highlighting the ones that no longer serve a purpose and can be shut down safely.

CIL Perspective

What we have observed is that the hardest part of cutting IT costs is creating a single, reliable view of everything the organisation runs and pays for. Finance teams usually have a handle on invoices and payment schedules, IT teams know which systems and workloads are active, and procurement teams keep track of licence agreements and renewals. But these pieces rarely come together in one complete picture that everyone can see.

Without that shared view, leadership often hesitates to make big moves. Boards are careful about approving migrations or new investments if they can’t see clear proof of both the costs involved and the risks of change. IT teams on the ground may be confident that savings are possible, but without verified numbers and a common baseline, that confidence is difficult to turn into a business case that decision-makers will accept.

We have watched major modernisation projects stall for years because of this gap. When no one can point to clear data showing where money is being lost and how those savings could fund new priorities, the pause itself becomes another cost

CIL Solution

An AWS Optimisation & Licensing Assessment (OLA) addresses that gap by creating a fact-based view of the entire IT estate. It combines discovery, analysis, and recommendations into a single process that delivers numbers leadership can act on.

Organisations that have completed an OLA often uncover double-digit percentage reductions in SQL Server, Oracle, and Windows licensing. Some have achieved savings of up to 77% on Windows Server and 45% on SQL licensing. Just as important, they walk away with a prioritised roadmap: which workloads to modernise, which to migrate as-is, and which to decommission.

The strength of this approach is that it removes guesswork. Leaders are no longer debating opinions about what might be saved. They are working from verified evidence that shows where money is being lost and how quickly it can be recovered.

Conclusion

In a market where every investment is scrutinised, knowing exactly what you are paying for is a competitive edge. Visibility into true usage and costs allows organisations to cut waste without cutting capability, to reduce risk in migration planning, and to free capital for what matters most.