Information Technology (IT) Departments buy Software subscriptions to computer programs that allow them to assemble the architecture that they need to run their business or organization. There is a myriad of Software programs, just as Microsoft 365 or Google For Work that operate on either an annual of monthly Subscription basis, just like your Cable TV subscription. Collectively, the entire ecosystem of Software that a business or organization compiles to run the Computer system that they assemble to meet their own individual needs is collectively called a Software Stack.
The problem here is that because all of these services that the IT Department is ordering are systemically disparate, there is a rainstorm of invoices that showers down on the Accounts Payable Department.
Each time that an IT Department purchases a piece of Software, the invoices that the Company pays from each and every one of the Software purveyors accounts for a separate invoice that must be paid. Similarly, IT Departments these days make the decisions for the purchase of Telecommunications programs for Voice and Data. These services too are going to generate a monthly invoice to the Accounts Payable Department. The problem here is that because all of these services that the IT Department is ordering are systemically disparate, there is a rainstorm of invoices that showers down on the Accounts Payable Department. Moreover, because IT Department personnel changes from time to time, as well as identifying the changing needs of what Computer Software is needed to run the business or organization, there may be Software that the Company purchased some years ago that it is not currently using because their needs have changed; yet, the monthly invoices continue to come into the Accounts Payable Department because the IT Department did not have the time and resources to identify any legacy Software Programs that they should remove from service.
To better understand the cost of labor let us glumly ponder how quantifying saving Accounts Payable Department time of having to process gazillion invoices a month is costing the business or organization. If you have an employee who is working a standard eight (8) hour day, and they are working 244-days a year, and they are making $30,000 annually, every hour of time is worth $15.37. So, what if that employee could save just one hour a day for a year? That means that just one Accounts Payable Department employee saving an hour a day for a year would save the business or organization $3,750.28.
Similarly, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) who heads up the IT Department has a similar issue in that for any of their employees that need Help Desk Support in regards to any Software program that the business or organization is running has to identify what phone number to call to address the specific problem that they are having. Just like the Accounts Payable Department that has gazillion invoices to pay, every Company is going to have its own separate phone number to call for what is commonly referred to as Help Desk Support. This type of technical support is generally referred to as Level 1 for problems such as resetting a Log-In Password or configuring a Computer Printer. Level 2 Support generally deals with things like Software installations.
To solve the Accounts Payable Department Labor problem as well as the blizzard of having the IT Department and its employees having to waste time by dealing with different Help Desk personnel for each and every piece of Software, the solution is that businesses and organizations can solve the time parasites that are eating away at the CIO’s time and the Accounts Payables time by identifying a Software management Company that will consolidate their Software Stack into one invoice without increasing what they are paying now. Additionally, the CIO and their Employees will now have one Help Desk Number to call.
For businesses and organizations that currently have the same problem of getting gazillion invoices a month for any and all telecommunications bills that increases the Accounts Payable Department Labor Costs, they should be able to identify a telecom consolidator that can present them with one bill to pay.
The business lesson learned here is that the old adage of “saving time to save money” is true. Yet; the problems businesses and organizations have here is prevalent. That is why it represents such a good opportunity for cost savings.