Using Buying Power and AI to Get More Value from IT Spend

A financial services company improved IT cost efficiency by taking control of business demand earlier, using its scale more effectively with suppliers, building AI-enabled productivity commitments into supplier contracts, and developing the capabilities to sustain the savings.

// At a Glance

A financial-services company wanted to improve cost efficiency across its IT operations while strengthening visibility and control over expenditure. The Management Board created a multidisciplinary team led by the CFO, bringing together IT, Controlling, and Procurement around three priorities:

improve spend governance from the initial business request, use the company’s full purchasing scale, and simplify and strengthen relationships with strategic IT suppliers;

capture further efficiencies from AI and other technology changes by working with suppliers and formalizing productivity gains in contracts;

build the Procurement capabilities needed to sustain the savings over time.

Working with Inverto, the company introduced a new way to review business requests, developed a detailed view of IT spend and supplier relationships, and ran a broad sourcing program across key technology services. The program delivered double-digit savings across the IT scope addressed.

Industries Financial Institutions & Banking

Expertise

// Challenge

Finding Savings Across a Complex IT Supplier Landscape

The company relied on external suppliers for infrastructure, cloud platforms, application management, cybersecurity and other IT services. Business units managed their requirements and supplier relationships within their respective areas, making it difficult to see the full picture of expenditure and use the company’s combined purchasing power.

Purchasing controls also varied across the organization. Opportunities to challenge business requirements, combine demand or use existing contracts were harder to identify when spending decisions were managed separately.

Meanwhile, AI and other technology developments were changing how IT services could be delivered. The company wanted to capture the resulting productivity gains in supplier agreements while ensuring that its technology services could support future business growth.

// Approach

1. Taking Control of Business Demand and Making Better Use of Purchasing Scale

IT, Procurement and Controlling worked together to assess business requirements, supplier opportunities and financial implications, bringing these decisions into a coordinated company-wide program.

Inverto’s AI-enabled Spend Guard introduced a single entry point for purchase requests. The team could review what the business needed, assess whether requirements could be adjusted or combined, and check existing supplier agreements before making purchasing decisions.

A savings-to-budget process also connected negotiated efficiencies with financial planning, helping ensure that sourcing results were reflected in subsequent budgets and purchases.

The team built a detailed view of IT expenditure, examining which suppliers received the spend, which contracts governed it and where opportunities existed across categories. This analysis informed 40+ strategic sourcing actions aimed at improving the company’s negotiating position.

The program engaged 50+ suppliers across key IT categories. Competitive sourcing was used where alternatives existed, while direct negotiations were pursued where established supplier relationships or operational dependencies made switching less practical. The work covered pricing, rate cards, rebates, service levels, and contract extension.

The company also worked to reduce commercial contact points with its main IT suppliers. This helped the company discuss pricing, service requirements, and future technology developments with those suppliers in a more coordinated way.

2. Turning AI Productivity into Contractual Savings

The second priority was to capture further efficiencies such as AI and other technologies changed the delivery of core IT services, including Application Management Services (AMS), software development and infrastructure.

Working with suppliers, the team examined where productivity could improve and how those gains could be reflected in contractual commitments.

In core application management, the company worked with an established supplier whose position limited the benefits of a conventional competitive tender.

The negotiation therefore focused partly on future productivity. Expected AI-supported efficiencies were built into the contract through agreed improvement commitments, with a gain-sharing mechanism for additional productivity beyond those commitments.

This gave the company a contractual basis for capturing savings as the service became more productive.

The infrastructure work addressed both cost efficiency and the future requirements of the business.

The contract transformation considered changes to the service operating model, including AI, monitoring, and automation to adapt infrastructure delivery to the evolving technology environment.

The objective was also to support greater transactional capacity as the company scaled, so that the future service model could accommodate growing business requirements.

3. Building the Capabilities to Sustain the Savings

The final priority was to ensure that the improvements could continue after the program.

The work covered the core Procurement activities needed to manage expenditure consistently: full spend visibility, Procurement planning, source-to-contract, requisition-to-pay, and contract lifecycle management.

Alongside live sourcing and negotiation activities, internal teams worked with Inverto to develop and apply reusable materials, including RFP templates, supplier evaluation methods, service-level requirements, rate cards and governance tools.

The company retained these materials, together with the underlying supplier and contract information, giving internal teams a practical starting point for future sourcing and purchasing decisions.

// Result

Double-Digit Savings and Stronger Control over IT Expenditure

The program delivered savings across the addressed IT services while introducing new controls over purchasing requests and supplier agreements.

The sourcing work addressed different sources of cost, from existing contract terms to future service productivity. At the same time, the new demand-review process and retained sourcing tools gave the company a way to continue identifying and managing opportunities beyond the initial program.

Key Outcomes Included

300+ purchase requests processed through Spend Guard, establishing a consistent review point for business expenditure.

50+ suppliers engaged across major IT categories, with commercial improvements covering pricing, rebates, service levels and contract terms.

AI-related productivity commitments incorporated into core application management agreements, including a mechanism to share additional efficiency gains.

Reusable sourcing and governance tools retained by internal teams to support future purchasing and supplier decisions.

Simpler supplier relationships, with fewer commercial contact points and more coordinated engagement with major IT providers.

Key Takeaways

The company can now manage IT costs at several points in the spending cycle: when business requirements arise, when supplier agreements are negotiated, and as technology changes how services are delivered. This creates more opportunities to influence expenditure and capture productivity improvements over time.

The infrastructure work was also designed to support greater transaction volumes as the business grows. With stronger internal processes and supplier information already in place, the company is better equipped to manage future costs while adapting its IT services to changing business needs.

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Industry

Financial Institutions & Banking Financial Institutions & Banking

Expertise

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