Media company
Scenario
Value-for-money assessment.
Situation
With over 1300 desktop PCs and Macs, the company was concerned that the cost of providing hardware, software licenses and support services should be competitive. Their initial comparison against benchmark figures was frustrated as they had no confidence that they were comparing like with like.
Charteris Role
Charteris provided an independent assessment of the cost of providing desktop services across the organisation, so that a fair comparison could be made with industry norms. Areas with high costs compared to similar companies were identified, and actions to reduce costs were recommended.
Charteris gave guidance on the measures to be used; reviewed and revised the calculation of desktop costs and recommended action where costs were higher than the norm. This revised cost assessment allowed the organisation to perform meaningful comparisons with industry cost figures.
Solution
First, we checked for hidden costs such as costs borne by central departments and not recharged. Secondly, with a clear cost base, we were able to compare the costs with industry norms (using our previous experience to check that we were comparing like with like).
We also reviewed the productivity of the help desk by considering the staffing level, call volumes and number of users. These figures were compared with our experience in other organisations of a similar size.
These comparisons allowed us to identify areas that looked anomalous. Rather than seeking to meet benchmark figures, we then investigated each area to identify the main cost drivers and consider whether the cost was reasonable or if there was an opportunity to reduce costs.
As a result of our work:
- We provided the company with a definition of costs that will allow them to compare costs with external benchmarks.
- We identified good reasons why the cost of some services differed from the norm (with some costs higher and others lower).
- We identified target areas that could lead to cost savings through changes in process or technology, such as a change to the procurement policy.