Most organisations know their IT budget at a high level. Far fewer know exactly where the money goes, or whether the tools and licences they’re paying for are still delivering meaningful value.
Rising wage costs and operational pressures highlighted in the Budget mean the traditional 80/20 split between ‘keeping the lights on’ and investment is tightening. Many organisations now recognise that 2026 budgets cannot rely on simply adding new tools. They must start with a careful re-examination of what they already own.
With economic pressure, rising operational costs and rapid change across cloud and security, 2026 is shaping up to be a year where organisations take a more deliberate, joined-up approach to IT budgeting.
At Fordway, we’re seeing a clear shift: 2026 budgets aren’t just about adding new capabilities, they’re about making smarter use of what you already own.
The 80/20 Reality of IT Spend
Most IT budgets follow a predictable pattern:
- 80% goes on keeping the lights on — renewals, licences, recurring services, existing tools.
- 20% is available for genuine change — modernisation, AI, security uplift, transformation.
The issue isn’t the ratio itself. It’s how rarely organisations interrogate the 80 percent. Contracts renew on autopilot. Tools remain in place out of habit. Licences are added over time but rarely rationalised. Subscriptions continue long after teams have stopped using them.
That’s why one of the most valuable budgeting exercises is deceptively simple: What are we spending? Where are we spending it? And why?
When Keeping the Lights On Becomes an Informed Decision
Every organisation must maintain a baseline of IT capability. But whether you continue with every tool or licence shouldn’t be assumed, it should be chosen.
A client of ours is a great example. They piloted Microsoft Copilot for their entire user community, nearly 500 staff. After a comprehensive review of the business benefits they were realising they scaled the subscription back to 50 users in their commercial functions — the group where Copilot genuinely made a difference. They have now committed the money saved to develop automated agents which will improve the productivity and efficiency of their entire user community.
As almost all licences are now SaaS or subscription services, which remove the need for scheduled renewals which allow a formal expenditure review, these reviews become more pressing as it’s easy to just keep paying – and the software vendors know this. Regular reviews allow customers to have a better handle on low-use subscriptions, overlapping tools and historic purchases that no longer match current needs.
Reviewing What You Own and Choosing the Right Licences Should Happen Together
Optimising licences and retiring redundant tools aren’t two separate projects — they are two sides of the same conversation.
You cannot choose the right Microsoft 365 or Azure licences until you know what capabilities you already have, what you’re actually using, where duplication exists and what can be safely retired.
Likewise, you cannot identify redundant tools without understanding which Microsoft features are already included in your subscription and could replace them.
This is why Fordway’s approach is always simultaneous, not sequential. Review, rationalise and right-size as one process.
Duplication: Where IT Budgets Quietly Disappear
Many organisations now hold Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 licences that already include advanced security, identity and device management tools. Yet they continue to pay separately for products such as Zscaler, Forcepoint, standalone MDM platforms or additional endpoint protection.
This duplication isn’t deliberate. It’s historical. But financially, operationally and strategically, it’s one of the biggest drains on IT budgets.
Unlocking the Full Power of Microsoft 365 and Azure
Microsoft’s ecosystem has matured dramatically. Capabilities that once required separate specialist products are now included within existing subscriptions.
When organisations fully deploy all capabilities of their Microsoft 365 subscription, they typically gain clearer visibility, stronger identity protection, unified threat analytics, simpler device management and reduced operational overhead.
Managing Change Without Losing Capability
A common concern is disruption. Fordway works side-by-side with our customers’ IT, security and operational teams to ensure every capability is replaced like-for-like or improved before any tool is retired. Transitions are phased, controlled and transparent.
External Pressures Are Tightening 2026 Budgets
With rising wage costs and changes introduced in the Chancellor’s recent Budget, organisations are under pressure to make existing budgets stretch further. Reclaiming spend from duplication and unused tools frees resources for innovation, automation, security uplift and improved user experience.
2026: A Year for Smarter, Not Bigger, IT Budgets
Optimise what you own while choosing what you truly need at the same time.
Fordway helps organisations map their real spend, identify duplication, optimise Microsoft 365 and Azure licensing, retire outdated tools safely, build future-proof IT roadmaps and engage stakeholders throughout the process.
The result isn’t just lower cost — it’s higher value.
If you want to make your 2026 IT budget work harder, Fordway can help you do it strategically, safely and with complete confidence.
