Tech sprawl refers to the uncontrolled expansion or proliferation of technological tools, platforms, systems, and solutions within an organization. As companies grow, merge, and digitally transform, their technology footprint expands, often leading to redundancy and inefficiency. According to Forrester’s Q2 2024 Tech Pulse Survey, a staggering 77% of US technology decision-makers report moderate to extensive levels of technology sprawl. This sprawl can result in unsustainable costs, slower IT delivery, reduced operational resilience, and increased security risks.
The Visibility Imperative
The first step in taming tech sprawl is improving visibility. Robust observability, FinOps, attack surface management, and strategic portfolio management reporting capabilities are essential. These tools provide insights into how sprawl affects resilience and cost, enabling CIOs to make informed decisions.
Beyond Cost Reduction
While cost reduction is a significant driver of technology consolidation, our survey data reveals that improving system performance and reliability is the most commonly cited factor. Organizations are looking to enhance operational efficiency and reduce downtime, which directly impacts business outcomes. Simplifying IT management and enhancing security are also major drivers of consolidation efforts.
Tech Consolidation Efforts Works Best in Product-Centric Organizations
Interestingly, 63% of surveyed decision-makers plan to pursue moderate consolidation strategies as part of IT maintenance over the next two years. But tech sprawl management cannot be left to individual teams or left to be handled as regular maintenance activities. In fact, tech consolidation works best in product-centric organizations with a build/run model, where teams use a common backlog for new features and maintenance tasks, including technical risks and debt. Persistent build/run product teams, exposed to the consequences of their earlier decisions, have a more comprehensive mandate to fix sprawl.
Measuring Success
Companies should have clearly defined metrics which they want to be achieved through tech sprawl management. Performance improvements are the most used metric to measure consolidation success, with 70% of decision-makers noting their organization uses it. Other important metrics include cost savings, reduction in security incidents, and user satisfaction. By reducing IT landscape complexity, organizations can better manage security risks and improve service delivery.
To know more about how companies are managing tech sprawl read our report The State Of Tech Sprawl In The US, 2024 and raise a guidance session with me to discuss how your can get your tech sprawl under control.
