In a world where new technology is marketed as the fix for everything—from productivity slumps to team collaboration…and that’s without even AI!—it's easy to fall into the trap of buying more instead of using better. But before you sign the next contract or add another SaaS tool to your growing stack, ask this question: Are we actually using what we already have?

Most organizations aren’t.

Start with a tech inventory. Not just a spreadsheet of licenses, but a real look into what tools are in use, who owns them, how they’re integrated, and where they’re falling short. Too many teams are duplicating functionality across tools or layering new systems onto broken processes.

This is where IT leaders can drive value fast—by surfacing what's already paid for but sitting dormant.

ACTION: Ask each area of the business what applications they use and what they use them for. This builds a business inventory of technology. (**important to always be business value focused!)

Buying the tool is the easy part. Using it well? That’s where the ROI is.

Make it your mission to activate your existing stack. Provide training, integrate tools into daily workflows, and track usage across teams. You might find your CRM can already automate that report you thought you needed a new analytics platform for. Or your LMS already supports AI-powered upskilling—you just haven’t turned the feature on.

Every organization has untapped capabilities hiding in plain sight. Start unlocking them.

ACTION: Do a technology inventory (or update). What do you have? Then for each technology available to the organization, list out its capabilities (regardless if being used today). What capabilities does your existing IT stack provide you?

Too often, tool selection starts with the features, not the outcomes. Flip that script.

Begin by identifying the business results you’re after: faster customer onboarding, lower support costs, improved cross-team collaboration. Then map your existing tools to those outcomes. Which ones are moving the needle? Which ones are noise?

This kind of alignment doesn’t just improve performance—it transforms how your teams think about tech.

ACTION: Compare that business inventory with your technology inventory. Are there gaps where the business wants to do other functionality and is unsure which app to use?  Or are there technologies that offer capabilities that the business areas have not thought about? The alignment is where you maximize the value!

When teams are bombarded with new logins and new systems that feel disconnected or redundant, they disengage. They stop believing the next tech rollout will be better than the last. But when you show them how existing tools can actually make work easier—when you cut friction, not add to it—you build trust.

And trust fuels adoption. Adoption fuels value.

ACTION: Remember that technology implementation or even just usage is often not a tech challenge – consider your communication plan, training plan, and support plan for any technology tool you wish to leverage.

You don’t have to be the first to buy the newest tool. You need to be the leader who makes every tool count.

AI, automation, and digital transformation aren’t about having more—they’re about doing better. And doing better starts with knowing, using, and aligning what you already own.

If your team isn’t getting full value from your current tech stack, you’re not ready for what’s next. But if you can maximize today’s tools, you’re already ahead of the curve.