Mind the overlap - how companies are paying twice for software

A Feature Matrix - is a common sight these days

Over the past few years, as software has moved to the cloud, the speed of development has increased. Software companies have begun competing on feature comparison sheets as well as price.

One of the unexpected side-effects of this competition is feature bloat which inevitably leads to feature overlap. Microsoft cloud platforms have released over 500 features this year alone!

Feature overlap means having the same features available in multiple products that you or your company license.

This overlap in functionality between software packages is costly and mostly hidden to companies. 

Unusable value

All of this leads to a phenomenon I call "unusable value". A feature may be beneficial to you and your team, but you can't use it in more than one product without confusing everyone.

Visualising feature overlap

So, what do you do? 

Firstly, you must find your unusable value. Here are some ways to recognise it in your business. 

Signs you may have overlapping features

We finished that project months ago!

1. Partially finished projects - a classic sign you may have overlap

   • Do you have any partially finished IT projects? 

     • There are very likely features you don't even know about in the software you already own, check your current software before buying anything new.

2. Conscious versus unconscious spending 

   • Was a software product brought into your company at breakneck speed?

   • Did anyone check if products in the organisation already had the feature?

3. Good enough versus best in class

   • Was a product brought on-board because it was "the best at X"?

   • Frequently a single component of a software package is what sells it. Was a "good enough" sense check completed against features that you already pay for?

The next steps

If any of your answers make you uncomfortable, you probably have unusable value that we can release and ultimately save your company money. 

At this point, we can start to have the conversation about which features and tools to keep. 

Simplitech offer trusted advice, making business technology as simple as possible.