Media [#8] BFM Business Jan' 2026

Original Link : https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/bg-a-ou-l-art-de-maitriser-les-couts-it_AO-202601060022.html

Faced with skyrocketing licensing costs and the need to invest in artificial intelligence, companies are looking to streamline their IT budgets. To help them do so, consulting firm BG&A acts as a “translator” between technical teams and finance departments. Its long-term approach, from strategy to project implementation, delivers a particularly attractive return on investment. Interview with Alexandre Gay, its founder and CEO.

Your firm BG&A is positioned in a specific niche: IT Financial Management. Why is this dual expertise in IT and finance attractive to companies?

Our core business is IT budget financial management. We act as translators between IT and finance. We are able to communicate with a network architect as well as present a financial model to the CFO or CTO. These professions, which often operate in silos, do not speak the same language. The architect focuses on technical specifications, while the CFO seeks to align spending with overall strategy and ROI. Each of these people has specific needs, and we are able to translate the technical details of IT into concepts that financial management understands, and vice versa. This helps to create a common vision.

Another unique feature of your service is that you support your clients from the strategy phase right through to implementation. What is the added value of this “long-term” approach?

Unlike many strategy firms that only support their clients for three months, BG&A is there from the creation of the business case to its implementation, and even for its operational maintenance. This methodology requires a high degree of rigor. When we build the financial model, we have to make sure it is realistic. If we make a mistake, we will be the ones to notice it and bear the consequences.

As for ROI, we achieve a minimum of x5 between our fees and the savings or costs avoided for the client. This can go up to x20 depending on the project. This confidence in our results allows us to bill part of our fees as a success fee.

IT news is dominated by rampant inflation and the advent of artificial intelligence. How are these two forces impacting budgets, and what methods do you use to control them?

These are the two most important issues at the moment. On the inflation front, service costs remain stable due to competition in the market. But inflation on software and licenses is very high, sometimes around 10% per year. Some suppliers are raising prices because they know that leaving their ecosystem is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult.

To optimize these costs, our approach is based on three pillars. First, we challenge the need. Often, 10 to 20% of licenses or services ordered are not used. We identify them and cut them. Next, we analyze the contract schedule to consolidate orders and increase bargaining power. Finally, we keep a cool head when it comes to AI. We apply the same audit and business case principles as we do to any other technology. The goal is to allocate capital more effectively so that the investment serves the company's overall strategy, for example by offering greater flexibility or automation.

You specialize in the precise costing of complex projects

Yes, we include all costs, even those that are often overlooked. For example, we take into account the costs of early contract termination or transformation scenarios. When comparing the cost of a cloud service with that of an internal data center, we ask ourselves: “What happens if we switch immediately?” or “What will happen if the transformation takes place in a year's time?” We build several dynamic models that incorporate these variables.

How do you help leaders make the best strategic decisions?

It's a matter of prioritizing the message. The higher up we go in management, the more refined the message needs to be. On a technical level, there are always multiple options. Our role is to explore them, simulate them in our dynamic financial models, and then simplify them. We go from thirty initial options to three options at the end, with a recommendation for middle management. Finally, we present one or two options to the Board.

Executives don't need technical details; they need to know how the investment supports the company's strategy. Our job is to give them the information they need to make informed decisions. IT investment is not an end in itself. It supports the company's core business.