IT Cost Control Insights #16 – Why Your IT Team Says “This Can’t Be Optimized” (And The Exact Move That Changes It)
- Alexandre Gay
- May 30
- 2 min read
Hi,
You show clear opportunities. You bring data. And you still hear: “This can’t be optimized without breaking the service.”
This reaction is not random. IT people are measured on stability and performance. When cost pressure arrives, their default move is defense. Because they’ve seen “savings” create real service pain before.
Here’s the exact sequence that flips it.
Step 1: Start with their objective. Open with their reality, not your target:
“Your job is to keep this service stable and performing for the business. I get that. Let’s look at the cost pressure and figure out how we protect what you’re measured on while dealing with the budget.”
This disarms the automatic “no”.
Step 2: Translate into technical levers they control. Stop talking euros. Talk specs, volumes, architecture choices, consumption, and vendor commitments. Make the cost discussion concrete in their language.
Step 3: Co-build and force named ownership. Never present a finished idea. Walk through options together so they shape the solution. Then make sure every action has a named owner. Ideas without a named owner stay ideas.
Last quarter we worked with an IT Head whose infrastructure lead was blocking every discussion. We started by clearly acknowledging his real priority (stability and performance), translated the cost drivers into technical and commercial terms he controlled, and co-built two low-risk options together. Within three weeks he went from “this is too risky” to actively proposing improvements, providing missing data, and owning one of the actions. The opportunity moved forward.
Do this consistently and two things happen: you get better data and realistic assumptions, and the people who were resisting become the ones driving progress.
Most IT cost efforts lose weeks or months right here because they skip straight to the numbers and wonder why nothing moves.
If you’re hitting this kind of resistance right now and want a direct read on what’s actually blocking progress in your scope, book a 30-minute IT Cost Transparency Diagnostic here:
No pitch. Just an honest look at your situation.
Talk soon, Alexandre Gay Managing Director, BG&A
All BG&A articles and insights: https://www.b-g-associates.com/insights
Comments