Business operations, both internal and customer-facing, continue to become enhanced by the innovations of software and technology. There’s practically an app for everything these days. Just looking at your CRM, ops software, and communication methods, you realize you’re already leveraging valuable IT solutions. But there’s always something new and shiny in terms of tech, promising glorified results and streamlined experiences. How can you be sure you’re leveraging the best digital options for your business model? And more importantly, how much should you be spending? Power BI Reporting combined with PBRS allows decision-makers to rise above intuition and guesswork and identify exactly where they can invest that will provide the greatest benefit to their IT budget.
Just the Cost of Doing Business
Investing in technology for business is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Studies predict worldwide IT spending this year alone will reach $4.5 trillion. That’s a 2.4% bump from 2022, according to estimates made by Gartner. Driving the surge in IT spending is economic uncertainty and the forced adoption of digital solutions to offset challenges surrounding the pandemic.
Enterprise software and IT-related service spending will experience the most significant growth. Estimates suggest enterprise software spending will grow 9.3% this year while IT service spending will tick upward by 5.5%. IT consulting is another area of expected spending bursts, with projections exceeding $265 billion. That’s a 6.7% increase from last year.
Here are some other stats based on the 2023 State of IT Report:
- 54% of those surveyed indicated they would be increasing IT spending in 2023.
- 40% responded that they would be spending about the same as in 2022.
- 6% believe they’ll be cutting back on IT spending this year.
- The spending ranges are vast, but the median boost in spending is about 5%.
Of course, if you’re like most CIOs and leaders right now, you’re hesitant to overspend on technology right now. Economic uncertainty is ongoing and now, coupled with supply chain concerns, inflation, and talent shortages. This forces many companies to spend cautiously, even on much-needed IT software and infrastructure.
What if there was an IT solution worth investing in that could provide better analytics, improved internal connectivity, and automation capable of bridging talent gaps? Power BI Reporting could be the IT investment your company needs right now.
Systems
One IT spending area that is expected to decline is devices. Companies are cutting back on spending for PCs and laptops by an average of 5.1%. However, it’s important to assess your current hardware and systems infrastructure before following suit with any spending cuts. Your systems serve as mechanisms for transmitting information and connecting teams. If your systems are outdated or becoming ineffective, this is one area of IT spending you’ll want to explore first.
Processes
Today’s companies will also need to evaluate the effectiveness of their processes. Once you have all the right infrastructure in place, it’s your processes and procedures that will allow you to operate at peak capacity. Consider auditing your current flow of information, customer engagement, and communications. Speak with your teams about the challenges or silos they experience. You might need to invest in additional IT spending to upgrade software and systems if your goal is to improve operations.
People
In addition to all the IT-related hardware, software, systems, and data, you’ll need to have dynamic people with the right combination of IT-related experience to man the ship. Hiring in today’s workforce development landscape is going to be a challenge. It might be worth investing in company culture initiatives and employee experience to attract and retain top IT talent.
Where to Integrate Key Systems
Once you’ve identified which areas of IT require the most attention, you can look to Power BI Reporting as a brilliant solution. Should you need to improve your processes, for example, Power BI Reporting can seamlessly integrate with your key systems. It can connect various software and data to all the necessary departments with customized reports in real-time. It’s the IT spending that will allow your analysts to get the metrics they need, your managers to get the performance markers they need, and the overall trending data you need as the CIO or company leader. Imagine the ROI of such an investment!
Power BI Reporting will provide your teams with the ability to:
- Analyze and visualize data immediately.
- View all IT-related metrics in one place.
- Receive real-time updates via live dashboards.
- Draft interactive reports in mere minutes.
- Schedule automatic reporting.
Where to Incorporate Automation
Another worthwhile investment in your IT budget is automation. When you can eliminate unnecessary manual steps in any company process, you effectively save time and money. If your teams are no longer preoccupied with assembling reports and troubleshooting IT breakdowns, they’re able to be more productive. Automation remains the ideal solution for streamlining processes. Power BI Reporting allows you to tap into automation in relevant ways, providing you with effortless, real-time metrics and seamless process integration with your teams and departments.
Cost Relative to Talent Gaps
Another cost-saving benefit to Power BI Reporting involves talent gaps. Instead of overspending on additional staff or filling administrative or IT support roles for process oversight, you can rely on Power BI Reporting to bridge those talent gaps with metrics and automation reporting. Additionally, should you need to fill key roles, you can explore your talent options for remote work and not worry about whether remote team members will become isolated. Power BI Reporting allows for collective communication and sharing of metrics, so no one on your team is operating in a silo.
Cost Relative to Time Saved
Investing in solutions like Power BI Reporting will net considerable ROI. So even if you’re among the more fiscally cautious CIOs and leaders, Power BI Reporting is a sound and worthwhile consideration. Calculate the time savings alone that these customized and real-time metrics will provide. Having actionable intel in your hands at any given moment could be worth its weight in gold. Streamlining productivity among your teams is mission-critical to your company’s success.
Power BI Reporting could be the one IT spending investment you should be making in 2023. It’s a solution that will improve your IT systems, processes, and team productivity simultaneously. Connect with us and start exploring Power BI Reporting for your small or medium-sized business this year!
