Services / AI and technology cost review
AI and technology cost review
In ten working days you get a signed-off picture of every system and service you pay for, what each one really costs, and what your AI use costs per use, with a plan to scale it up or down as demand changes.
- Usual length
- 10 working days
- Price
- See PricingTypical prices by number of systems
- For
- Up to 110 systems or vendorsMore than 110: scoped with you
Built on the recognised industry methods for managing technology and AI spend: the FinOps Framework, the FOCUS billing standard, ISO/IEC 19770 software asset management, and TBM.
Download the service brief (PDF)Why spend gets away from you
Technology spend rarely sits in one place. Software is bought by subscription, often by teams on their own cards. Cloud bills change every month with use. AI arrives three ways at once: tools staff sign up for, AI features switched on inside software you already pay for, and usage bills from AI providers. Each vendor bills in its own layout, so nobody can add the numbers up in one table.
The result is familiar: licences paid for people who have left, renewals that roll over unnoticed, overlapping tools doing the same job, and no clear answer to "what is AI costing us?". An unwatched AI service can run up its bill very quickly when use grows or something loops. This review gives you one agreed set of facts to manage from.
The steps, in order
- 1
Before we start
One or two calls to agree which data is needed, how you will send it, how sensitive it is, and roughly how many systems are in scope. You receive a scope document with the contract, a confidentiality agreement and our data-handling terms. Work starts when scope and price are signed and the 50% deposit is paid.
- 2
How spend is managed today (days 1 to 2)
A kick-off, then short interviews with your finance lead, your IT lead and whoever buys AI tools. Five areas are scored on the FinOps Crawl, Walk, Run scale.
- 3
Your data (days 2 to 4)
Your team prepares, cleanses and sends the agreed data. We log what arrives, chase what is missing, and convert every bill into the FOCUS layout.
- 4
Review with your team (days 4 to 5)
We build the map of every system and walk through it with the people who know each one.
- 5
Baseline sign-off (day 5)
You confirm in writing that the system list is complete. Every finding works from this list.
- 6
Spend, savings and gaps (days 6 to 8)
Spend sorted into the TBM categories, licences owned reconciled against licences used, committed against pay-as-you-go, renewals and notice dates mapped, gaps in governance set out.
- 7
The true cost of AI (days 6 to 9)
Every AI use priced, including the costs outside the bill, and modelled at half, double and five times today's use.
- 8
Final delivery (day 10)
We take you through all five deliverables. The engagement is complete when you accept them and each next step has an owner.
The ten days
If an item of data arrives late, the timeline moves by the same amount.
What you receive
- 1
Ecosystem map
A diagram and register of every system: vendor, owners, dependencies, where its data is held, contract, yearly cost and paid seats. Systems with no owner, no contract or an unexplained cost are marked.
- 2
Baseline sign-off
The systems in scope, total yearly cost, data sources and signatures, dated and versioned.
- 3
Spend report
Spend by TBM category, cost per user and per department where the data allows, real cost after discounts, unused seats to reclaim, the largest bills, and a 12-month renewal calendar with notice dates.
- 4
Optimisation and gaps report
Findings ranked by value and effort, each with an owner, a savings range and a risk rating. Quick wins can be done within 30 days with no contract change.
- 5
AI true-cost model and scaling plan
A register of every AI use, including AI use nobody approved; cost per answer, per request, per user and per outcome; scenarios; and the thresholds that should trigger a change.
What we need from you
- People: a buyer who signs; a finance lead and an IT lead; whoever buys AI tools; the owner of each AI use; one or two department heads for the map review.
- Data, prepared and cleansed by your team: technology supplier payments, licence and sign-in reports, cloud and AI bills and usage exports, and the larger contracts. Our data request list says exactly what, from which systems and by which day.
- Time: about 6 to 8 hours each from your finance and IT leads across the two weeks, and short sessions from the others.
Price
The typical prices for this service, and what each one covers, are on our Pricing page. Your actual price depends on your needs and is agreed in writing before we start.
See typical pricesWe agree the number of systems when you sign, and we deliver exactly that number. If we find more while mapping, you choose: we re-cost for the new number, or you keep the agreed number and choose which systems to leave out.
How payment works
- 50% on signing. Work starts once scope and price are signed and this payment is made.
- 50% at completion sign-off (the day-10 results meeting).
After the review
If you would like the picture kept current, monthly reporting builds on your signed baseline. Its typical price is on our Pricing page; talk to us about it.
We use AI assistance in our work. Your confidential data is processed only on our own machines and is never sent to cloud AI services. On request, we delete everything at the end and give you a signed certificate of deletion.
Start with a conversation.
One call to understand what you spend on and what worries you. If an engagement fits, you get a written scope and price.
Book a first call