On the next Gartner Briefing in Budapest the two research analysts will talk about recent IT Cost Optimization best practices
in the IT sector and about the link between Digitalization and IT Cost Optimization.
Today’s CIOs are too occupied with reducing IT costs to think strategically about how technology can optimize business costs
and create new revenue streams. Learn how best- in-class organizations have changed processes
and metrics to enable them to contribute more to the business and ultimately help the business succeed
in a global and competitive market.
Break Through IT Cost-Cutting Barriers to Optimize Business Performance presented by: Sanil Solanki, Research Director
IT and Business Units Work Better Together to Optimize Cost presented by: Stewart Buchanan, VP Analyst
Detailed program
| 08.00 – 08.20 | Registration & Refreshments |
| 08.20 – 09.20 | Break Through IT Cost-Cutting Barriers to Optimize Business Performance by Sanil Solanki |
| 09.20 – 09.50 | Coffee Break and Breakfast |
| 09.50 – 10.50 | IT and Business Units Work Better Together to Optimize Cost by Stewart Buchanan |
| 10.50 – 12.50 | One on One analyst consultation |
Key Questions
Which IT cost optimization techniques will be the most effective going forward?
How can IT executives break through cost-cutting barriers and optimize business performance?
How is the way your organization buys technology changing and how are budgets and decision rights shifting?
How are you spending more on digital technologies to improve business processes and significantly reduce business operating costs?
Sanil Solanki
Current Biography:
Sanil Solanki is a Research Director with Gartner Research. His focus is on IT cost optimization practices, business case review for outsourcing, IT project finance, project benefit realization, IT chargebacks/showbacks and the business value of IT.
Before joining Gartner, Mr. Solanki’s job responsibilities were:
– IT cost base optimization and year-over- year cost reductions
– IT project finance, investment prioritization, benefits realization, understanding the business model and sourcing options for project resources
– Outsourcing business case model review
Years of Experience
• 4 years in total with Gartner
• 8 years in IT industry
• 8 years in Transportation industry
• 6 years in Retail industry
• 3 years in Banking, Finance and Insurance industry
• 5 years in Energy & Utilities industry
Professional Background
• Heathrow Airport (BAA Ltd.), Head of Finance – IT Projects, 2 years
• Tui Travel PLC, IT Finance Manager, 3 years
• Elavon Merchant Services, Finance Manager – U.K. & Ireland, 1 years
Industry Expertise
• Primary Industry: Transportation | Expertise Level: Expert
• – Subsectors:
◦ Transportation, other
• Secondary Industry 1: Retail | Expertise Level: Specialist
• – Subsectors:
◦ Hospitality & Travel
• Secondary Industry 2: Banking, Finance and Insurance | Expertise Level:
Contributor
• – Subsectors:
◦ Banking
◦ Miscellaneous Financial
• Secondary Industry 3: Energy & Utilities | Expertise Level: Contributor
• – Subsectors:
◦ Water & Sewer Utilities
Education
• Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA)
• B.A., with honors, Accountancy
Languages
• Indian – Hindi
• Indian – Marathi
Top 5 Issues I Help Clients Address
• Running IT cost optimization as a program
• Financial controls for Mode 2 and optimizing the cost of innovation
• IT budgeting and IT budget tool assessment
• Metrics and performance measures
• Creating incubation centers with startups
Roles That Need My Research
• CIO, IT Director, IT CFO, IT Finance Business Partner, Commercial Director, Head of IT Procurement, IT Outsourcing Manager, Program Manager, Director of IT Projects
Top 5 Key Initiatives I Cover
• IT Cost Optimization (retired)
• Business Value of IT (retired)
• IT Budgeting (retired)
• Competitive Advantage and Business Transformation (retired)
• Shared Services (retired)
Common Inquiries I Address
• How CFOs can understand the ROI of IT/digital business
• How to drive optimization as a long-term program
• Removing cost pressure
• Benchmarking unit prices
• IT budget tool reviews
Emerging Research in My Area
• ITO360
• The Gartner Cost Value Matrix
• Optimizing the Cost of Digital Business
Top 3 Trends I See in the Market
• Using startups to scale innovation
• Driving cost optimization through using Nexus of Forces
• Moving from IT cost cutting to improving business margins
Please No Calls about These Topics
• IT organization design
Stewart Buchanan
Current Biography:
Stewart Buchanan is a Research VP in Gartner’s Technology Procurement
Leaders team, focusing on the economics of the enterprise acquisition of
digital technologies, including software licenses. Mr. Buchanan has
expertise in both supply and demand management through specializations
that include software licensing under virtualization and the cloud, IT asset
management, and gathering data to support the life cycle chargeback of
digital technology costs.
As an IT strategy consultant, Mr. Buchanan helped many well-known
organizations to measure, plan, purchase, recharge and improve value-for-
money in information services, working across industries as diverse as
financial services, media, manufacturing and retail. He previously spent 15
years in IT service management working as an IT manager for an
international firm and as a technical service manager, both in distribution
at a national reseller.
Years of Experience
• 10 years in total with Gartner
• 29 years in IT industry
• 4 years in Media industry
• 4 years in Services industry
• 4 years in Banking, Finance and Insurance industry
• 4 years in Retail industry
Professional Background
• GlassHouse Technologies, Strategic Analyst, 6 years
Industry Expertise
• Primary Industry: Media | Expertise Level: Native
• – Subsectors:
◦ Media & Publishing
• Secondary Industry 1: Services | Expertise Level: Native
• – Subsectors:
◦ Miscellaneous Services
• Secondary Industry 2: Banking, Finance and Insurance | Expertise Level:
Native
• – Subsectors:
◦ Miscellaneous Financial
• Secondary Industry 3: Retail | Expertise Level: Native
• – Subsectors:
◦ Retailers
Education
• B.A., with honors, Intellectual History, Universities of Sussex and
Burgundy
Languages
• French
Top 5 Issues I Help Clients Address
• Clients looking to improve technology asset management and manage
costs
• … manage commodity strategies/category plans
• … manage sole-source suppliers
• … charge back spending
• … justify spending
Roles That Need My Research
• IT Asset Manager, Head of Procurement, Head of IT Procurement,
Software Category/Commodity Managers, [Digital] Supply Chain
Manager, Software Asset Manager, Vendor Managers, Program and
Portfolio Manager, Contract Negotiator, Director of Procurement, IT
Chargeback or IT Service/Product Managers, CIO, CFO
Top 5 Vendors I Cover
• VMware, Inc. (Enterprise License Agreements [ELA] and license audits)
• Microsoft Corporation (Backup on SQL Server, virtualization licensing,
SPLA and license audits)
• Adobe Systems Incorporated (Backup on Enterprise Term License
Agreements [ETLA], Creative Cloud)
• Oracle Corporation (Oracle licensing on VMware, Hyper-V and other
Virtualization Environments)
Top 5 Key Initiatives I Cover
• Transforming Technology Procurement to Support Business Innovation
• Evaluating and Negotiating Software License Agreements and Cloud
Contracts
Profile Tags
• ITAM and technology asset portfolio management
• VMware software contract negotiation, licensing and pricing
• software asset management, license compliance
• IT financial asset management, budgeting and chargeback
• software escrow as a form of vendor risk mitigation
• negotiating strategies, internal and external
• licensing Oracle on VMware or other virtual machines
• category management in technology procurement
• Microsoft service provider licensing (SPLA)
• vendor management and technology portfolio startegies
Common Inquiries I Address
• Strategic management of the technology asset porftolio
• Technology procurement optimization through engagement
• with business and IT roles
• What bimodal IT means for IT roles and their interactions with the business
• Chargeback and IT funding, getting business users to pay for IT
• Financial planning of purchases, programs and projects
Recent Client Success Stories
• Driving better value from contracts when clients were driving savings at any cost
• Supporting more realistic fact-based financial planning
• Improving user accountability for the cost of their demand
• Helping clients drive more value from project budgets Emerging
Research in My Area
• See Sourcing and Vendor Management landing page on gartner.com
Top 3 Trends I See in the Market
• Clients trying to cut costs without considering value, risk
• Some IT costs growing much faster than business revenues – Please No Calls about These Topics
• ITScore – 11 answers to 8 year-old questions don’t give us enough to plan the client’s future for Sourcing or Procurement. I only cover one, not both.