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3 ways Irish businesses can make smarter IT budget choices to stay strong and grow, even in tough times with rising costs.
In brief
- Challenges in managing IT costs due to rising expenses and uncertainty, require smarter budget decisions for resilience.
- Key strategies include understanding technology spending, balancing cost-cutting with innovation, and streamlining operations for better efficiency.
- Building confidence in uncertain times involves investing in scalable infrastructure and engaging stakeholders to ensure stability while optimizing costs.
Managing IT Costs while delivering Business Agility and Resilience
Irish businesses are looking at an almost perfect storm of disruption. From the lingering effects of the pandemic and geopolitical tensions to rising costs and the rapid adoption of AI, this environment is difficult to predict and harder to manage. A recent EY survey of Irish CEOs found that over half (57%) of respondents regard geopolitical disruption as the single greatest risk to growth. Against this backdrop, managing IT costs is less about getting the numbers down and more about making smarter decisions, building resilience, and staying competitive. For CIOs and technology leaders, the pressure is mounting. Budgets are tight. Expectations are high. This article summarises the three main challenges companies are facing in managing IT Costs and suggests how to tackle them head on.
Challenge 1: Seeing the Whole Picture
One of the biggest hurdles in managing IT costs isn’t the cost itself - it’s understanding them. In many organisations, technology spend is scattered across departments, buried in cross-charges, or hidden in shadow IT. This makes it hard to answer a simple question: What are we actually spending, and why? Getting a clear view is the first step. That means working across teams like finance, operations, and other business units to understand what’s in use, what’s duplicated, and what’s no longer delivering value. It’s about building clarity.
Developing a single and shared understanding of where costs reside and how they are apportioned is key. This is increasingly challenging in organisations where system topographies consist of on-premises deployments, cloud environments and SaaS licensed capability. A matter further complicated and mystified by the dark art of vendor licensing. Without a clear and consistent view the old adage applies “you can’t manage what you don’t measure."
Challenge 2: Balancing Efficiency with Progress
Cost optimisation is top of mind for most Irish businesses right now. But cutting costs without cutting corners is a delicate undertaking. CIOs know that pulling back too far or in the wrong places can stall innovation and leave the business on the back foot. For example, a decrease in cybersecurity spending in the current climate would most likely be questioned and scrutinised by Senior Leadership or The Board. In a survey of 1,200 global CEOs, almost half (42%) indicated that they are looking to absorb additional costs through operational efficiencies and cost reductions. From an Irish perspective, 90% of CEOs have now revised their investment strategies to consider and manage political and trade risk. Among them, 73% have paused or restructured planned initiatives. Today’s tech leaders need to show that their current spending and future investments are delivering good value for money. At the same time, they need to safeguard systems and keep the business resilient. The key is to identify areas where spend and value are not aligned. That might mean reviewing software licenses, cloud usage, or overlapping platforms. It could also mean rethinking the operating model — how teams are structured, how resources are allocated, and whether the current setup is fit for purpose.
Cyber resilience must be at the heart of every technology cost decision. Cloud FinOps, the emerging discipline for managing and optimising cloud costs, is increasingly being applied to strengthen security outcomes as well as financial performance. In practice, this means aligning cloud spending decisions with cyber priorities from the outset, ensuring that cost optimisation never weakens threat prevention, detection, or incident response readiness. By embedding FinOps principles into cloud security architectures, leaders can directly link cloud consumption to business agility, cyber defence maturity, and the ability to anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruption.
Another strategy to balance and review both efficiency and spend is by benchmarking against peers to highlight where things are out of sync. The real value comes from asking: Are we spending with intent?
Irish organisations are now scrutinising tech spending, focusing on outcomes rather than just cutting costs. This shift towards assessing value marks real progress.
Challenge 3: Building Confidence in Uncertain Times
Global trade disruption has become business-as-usual. From regulatory changes to supply chain disruptions to rising tariffs, leaders are making decisions without the data or clarity they usually rely on. Without traditional business certainties, resilience is now number one on the must have list for businesses.
Businesses continue to operate in a highly uncertain environment, with economic and geopolitical risks that are higher than at any point this century. To survive and thrive, businesses need two key attributes: resilience and agility. This applies to all parts of the business from operations to support functions. The right IT and system capability is a foundational resource which can underpin that resilience and agility, to ensure firms are ready to rapidly adapt and evolve.
Finally, it is worth noting that resilience doesn’t mean throwing money at problems. It means investing in the right capabilities: scalable infrastructure, disaster recovery, predictive analytics etc.. It also means listening — to users, to stakeholders, to the business. A simple Voice of Customer survey can reveal where IT is adding value, and where it’s falling short. To build confidence and drive efficiency, technology leaders should focus in five key areas:
- Understand the cost base - establish a shared and common understanding of how costs are identified and apportioned across teams.
- Streamline applications – remove unnecessary or duplicate technologies to simplify the IT landscape.
- Review licensing agreements – identify opportunities for cost savings and better value.
- Evaluate the IT operating model – ensure internal and external resources are being used effectively and cost-efficiently.
- Consider a Cloud Fin-Ops function - set up a dedicated team or capability within your business to manage and optimise cloud spending.
Making measured and strategic moves vs. fast reactions.
Once the landscape is clear, organisations can start building a roadmap. That means identifying cost-saving opportunities, prioritising them based on impact, and working with technical teams to validate and deliver. It means logically sequencing change in a way that makes sense.
Risk management plays a role here too. In uncertain environments, every decision needs a safety net. Engaging stakeholders across finance, operations, and compliance helps ensure that cost optimisation doesn’t come at the expense of stability.
In conclusion: it’s clarity over complexity
Every decision around technology spend should stand up to scrutiny. That means having a clear picture of where the money goes, what it’s doing, and whether it’s helping the business move forward or protecting the business from attack. The companies that invest the time and effort into getting this right are the ones that will be well positioned for whatever challenges come next.
Summary
To manage IT budgets effectively, companies must gain a clear understanding of their spending, balance cost-cutting with innovation, and build resilience in uncertain times. Key strategies include streamlining technology, reviewing licenses, and ensuring efficient resource use. By focusing on value rather than just cutting costs, businesses can prepare for future challenges and maintain competitiveness.