Systems Audit & Rationalisation
Advisory-led audit to reduce tool sprawl and clarify operational data flow.
Overview
The client, a successfully growing B2B service agency, was suffering from "SaaS Sprawl." Over five years of growth, they had signed up for dozens of tools—project management, chat, time tracking, CRM, file storage—without a cohesive plan.
They didn't need more software. They needed less. They felt the weight of monthly subscriptions that weren't delivering value and the friction of having critical business data scattered across five different logins.
They engaged Montandon Ltd not to build something new, but to help them understand what they already had, cut the fat, and design a lean, efficient operating system for their next phase of growth.
The Situation Before
The business was operationally noisy. Project statuses lived in Monday.com, but client communications were in Slack and email. Invoices were in Xero, but the time-tracking data needed to generate them was in a separate tool.
There was no "Single Source of Truth." If a client asked "Where are we on this project?" the answer required checking three different platforms. This led to frantic internal messages and a constant, low-level anxiety that something was being missed.
The team was frustrated. They felt they were "working for the tools" rather than the tools working for them. Onboarding a new employee meant creating accounts for 12 different services, many of which overlapped in functionality.
The Approach
We started with a "Tools Down" audit. Before looking at features, we looked at content flows. We mapped out the lifecycle of a client project from "first enquiry" to "final invoice" and asked a simple question at each stage: "Where does this data live?"
Our approach was subtraction, not addition. We rigorously challenged the utility of every subscription. If two tools did 80% of the same job, one had to go.
We maintained total independence. We weren't selling a specific platform or trying to earn affiliate commissions. The goal was purely operational clarity and reducing the cognitive load on the team.
The Work Delivered
We produced a comprehensive Systems Architecture Map. This visual diagram showed exactly how data moved through the business. It highlighted "dead ends" where data was trapped and "manual bridges" where humans had to act as connectors.
We delivered a rationalisation roadmap. We identified three tools for immediate cancellation, saving the business £400/month instantly. We identified the core "backbone" stack (CRM + Project Management + Finance) and defined the integration points between them.
We provided an "Integration Specification" for the future. Instead of building the integrations immediately, we gave them a clear blueprint of *what* should be connected and *why*, allowing them to implement the connections at a pace that suited their budget.
The Outcome
The immediate outcome was financial: the cancellation of unused tools paid for the consulting fee within four months. But the real value was clarity.
The leadership team now has a shared mental model of their business. They know exactly which tool owns which process. The "where is this file?" questions have stopped because the architecture provided a clear answer.
They now have a roadmap. They aren't distracted by the latest "App of the Week." They have a clear set of criteria for adopting new technology, protecting their operations from future sprawl.
Tools Cancelled
Monthly Savings
Data Architecture
Team Process
Why This Worked
This worked because we focused on diagnosis before prescription. Most agencies want to sell the build immediately. By stepping back and guiding them through the architecture first, we built trust and ensured that when they *do* build, they build the right thing.
It reinforced that systems leadership is about clarity of thought, not just writing code.
Services Delivered
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