Editor’s note: Martin Thompson is founder of the ITAM Forum, an international trade group based in the UK that focuses on the advancement of the IT Asset Management industry.
LONDON – According to an Insight report published today, 30% of IT leaders intend to cut jobs in 2021, with 27% having already done so since March. The ITAM Forum is confident that effective use of ITAM could help to save many of these jobs. This is the basis of our #ITAMsavesjobs campaign.
IT Asset Management (ITAM) seeks to optimize spend on the IT environment, so it has a very compelling business during a recession where jobs are at risk. Organisations that implement ITAM can save at least 5% on their IT and software costs every year, however most projects save much more than that, especially in the first year. If these savings are applied towards talent retention, ITAM could protect hundreds of thousands of jobs in IT and elsewhere.
Before IT departments slash critical projects or lay off staff, we urge them to look at their IT spend first to see where savings could be made.
Cutting IT jobs means the removal of talent, careers and institutional knowledge about IT infrastructure – in comparison to IT waste which is removing unused or unwanted resources with no impact whatsoever on delivery of services. The average IT team is not growing, teams are being forced to do more with less, so staffing levels are unlikely to ever return if they are cut now.
What’s more, with many IT purchases having been rushed through during the March/April period to support home working, there is a high likelihood of bloatware across organisations which could yield even higher savings. Now is a good time to go back and review what was bought to ensure it still delivers value.
