Hardly any company plans its software stack. It grows. Someone quickly needs a survey tool, another team tries out a project manager, and at some point the company pays for three programs that do roughly the same thing. On top of that, the data looks slightly different in each of them. This article shows how to clean up in five steps.
Step 1: Inventory
Before you cancel anything, you need a complete list. The best source is not memory but bank and credit card statements from the last twelve months. They also show subscriptions someone signed up for years ago.
For each tool, record:
| Column | Question |
|---|---|
| Tool | What is it called, what is it used for? |
| Cost | What does it cost per month, including add-ons? |
| Licences | How many seats are paid, how many are active? |
| Owner | Who looks after it? |
| Data | Which data lives there, and does it also exist elsewhere? |
| Dependencies | Which other tools access it? |
| Contract | Monthly or annual, when is the next notice deadline? |
This table alone often brings surprises: licences for people who left long ago, or an annual plan that renewed yesterday.
Step 2: Find duplicates and idle tools
Sort the list by task instead of by tool. Where do several programs cover the same task? Typical candidates are file storage, video calls, task lists, forms and newsletters.
Also look for tools that are barely used. Many programs show in their admin area when someone last signed in. A licence nobody has used for months is a quick win.
Step 3: Spot data silos
More expensive than duplicate subscriptions is often duplicate work. If a customer exists in the CRM, in accounting and in an Excel list, every change has to be made three times. Sooner or later the versions no longer match, and nobody knows which one is right.
Mark in your inventory which data appears in several tools. For each of these, ask: where is the one source that all others should follow?
Step 4: Keep, connect or replace
For each tool you make one of three decisions.
Keep it if it works well, people like using it and it does not hold duplicate data. Specialist software for your industry is often exactly right as it is.
Connect it if the tool is good but data moves back and forth by hand. An interface or a regular export can replace the copying. An agent can also step in here, syncing data and flagging inconsistencies.
Replace it if another tool already covers the same task, the cost does not match the benefit, or the data is hard to get out.
Not everything has to end up in one system. A good stack has a few clearly separated tools with one clear source for each type of data.
Step 5: Plan the move
Replacing means moving. Plan for:
- Order: start with the tools that have the shortest notice period or the highest cost.
- Overlap: old and new tools run in parallel for a few weeks. Those double costs belong in the calculation.
- Data quality: clean up duplicates and old clutter before the move, not afterwards.
- Consent: with contact data, opt-outs and consent must move along.
- Training: briefly show people where things live now.
One example shows how carefully a move can go: a gallery migrated 5,992 contacts to a new system and kept all 1,594 opt-outs.
Checklist to take away
- Search the last twelve months of statements for software subscriptions
- Record cost, active users, data and notice period for each tool
- Cancel licences of people who have left right away
- Group tools by task and mark duplicates
- Define one leading source for each type of data
- Classify each tool as keep, connect or replace
- Plan the order of moves by deadlines and cost
- Include overlap costs in the calculation
- Repeat the inventory once a year
At SoloSuite, this stack check comes at the start of every setup. Whatever costs disappear in the process feed into the overall calculation.
Explore practical examples, plan a supported migration, or compare your costs.
FAQ
How often should I review my software stack?
Once a year is usually enough, ideally before the big renewal dates. It is also worth a look whenever someone leaves the company.
What do I do with annual contracts that are still running?
Note the notice deadline and plan the move so it is finished in time. Until then the tool can keep running or be connected to the new one.
Does everything have to live in one system in the end?
No. What matters more is that each type of data has one leading source and that tools are connected instead of data being copied by hand.