ITEM Buyer’s Checklist

Investing in an IT expense management (ITEM) solution? ZK Research outlines 10+ must-have features and capabilities to consider when evaluating software and services.

ITEM Buyer’s Guide Checklist

1

Integration & Reach

Solutions should work with a vast list of providers in order to manage a breadth of IT expenses.

TIP: Solutions should work with a vast list of providers in order to manage a breadth of IT expenses.

2

Inventory Build

Inquire about implementation times, automated data capture, and services to reduce manual work.

TIP: “Simple self-onboarding processes” can be code for “the client does all the work.”

3

Invoice Management

Automation accelerates ingestion, approvals, analysis, and reconciliation to identify billing errors.

TIP: Ask your provider how they process invoices and many they process monthly.

4

Contract Management

Stay ahead of procurement cycles with renewal notifications and service consumption reports.

TIP: Ask your provider if they maintain (and share) market pricing intelligence.

5

Cost Governance

Monitoring prevents and protects from cost overruns with spending thresholds and proactive alerts.

TIP: Look for custom reporting capabilities that support governance, budgeting, forecasting.

6

Contract Optimization

Uncover savings with a baseline of your current costs, comparing them to market-leading prices.

TIP: Full-service capabilities also offer RFP assistance and contract negotiation support.

7

Usage Optimization

Compile usage data, evaluate effective service utilization, and get recommendations to reduce waste.

TIP: Advanced tools use AI for this and can help you act on suggestions automatically.

8

Technology ROI

Chargeback and cost allocations are critical for ROI analysis and holding others responsible for IT costs.

TIP: Integration with your corporate financial system smooths this process.

9

Asset Management

Hands-on management services offload the work of administering IT assets, services, and costs.

TIP: Ask for help managing your SaaS licenses, mobile devices, and telecom orders.

10

AI for ITEM

Enable data observability, analytics, automation, and auto-generated recommendations for savings.

TIP: AI should be able to generate savings tips as well as act on its own recommendations.

Bonus

Managed Services

Providers help with audits, inventories, insights, reports, and capitalizing on money-saving opportunities.

TIP: Ask for support when you switch providers, refresh devices, and upgrade technologies.

Tangoe is a preferred ITEM provider because they release companies from the tight grip of digital dependency, helping them address IT waste to make way for more innovation.

– Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst, ZK Research

Buyer’s Guide: