Upgrade your architecture from cost-conscious to revenue-generating

What is cost-conscious architecture?

For most businesses across the globe, the whole Information Technology (IT) department – or whatever title is given to the centralised tech function – is still a giant cost centre. In such departments, there is no revenue or profit to be seen – just cost. And because technology now fundamentally enables every single business domain, it’s a really, really huge cost. So, there’s a lot of cost-consciousness found in IT departments. 

Given the prevalence of cost consciousness in IT departments, it’s unsurprising that it is also a hot topic for architects. Industry leaders like Dr Werner Vogels evangelise on the laws of architectural frugality, and we work with many architecture teams that embed cost consciousness in their practices. Such teams are aware of cost complexities beyond basics like project duration and architect-person-hours of effort. For instance, they are aware of things like: 

• The longer-term cost impacts of their work and outputs 
• The need to optimise their OpEx budgets 
• The value they provide when negotiating with suppliers during procurement activities

And many more things are driven by an underlying focus on cost. Whether our customers centralise their tech costs or not, Fusion5 works to budgets, so we fundamentally have to optimise cost. As you may have guessed, we enjoy working with architecture teams that use a structured and multi-pronged approach to optimising cost.

However, it's crucial to consider the broader business needs beyond cost alone. At Fusion5, we understand that optimising cost is only part of the equation. We work with you to ensure your IT architecture delivers sustainable value across the board, enabling you to transform from being purely cost-driven to becoming a revenue-generating engine.

As much as integration workers must be cost-conscious, we also aim to maximise the value delivered within our budgets. So, in addition to being cost-conscious, we are outcome-conscious. This gives us an incredible mandate to look at factors beyond cost. 

As much as we like working with customer teams that optimise costs, there is something that we often like more – working with you to generate revenue. As an architect, this opens opportunities to develop revenue-generating architectures and to think more deeply about how our approach to architecture can generate value. 

‘What is a revenue-generating architecture?’ you may ask. 

Well, let’s start with a few examples of generating revenue business activities: 

• Investing in mergers and acquisitions 
• Offering new products 
• Acting to grow customer base and market share 
• Shortening paths and lead times to revenue  

The above activities likely involve technology, architecture, and us architects.

When working on such activities, cost-conscious architects get on with the work and diligently optimise the tech cost. 

But a revenue-generating architect would follow principles like these: 

• Measure the impact of architectural decisions on future revenue shape. 
• Some long-lasting systems are aligned with business costs. However, other systems can persist for years in a poor state, where the cost is entirely disconnected from business needs. These problematic systems often persist due to organisational inertia, outlasting their usefulness and failing to deliver value – ultimately harming the organisation. 
• Average-quality architectures delivered by teams who understand that revenue levers provide better results than seemingly high-quality architectures delivered by teams unaware of revenue.

By rethinking architecture through a revenue-generating lens, businesses can enable significant growth. Fusion5 can help you achieve these objectives by ensuring your IT infrastructure is not just built to last but designed to facilitate expansion and adaptability. Our focus on simplifying complex systems and integrating technologies seamlessly creates the opportunity for businesses to scale, innovate, and ultimately generate greater revenue.

Final thoughts

Great architecture teams can both optimise cost and enable revenue generation. And sadly, there are architecture teams working in systems that do neither! 

So, architects, do you follow a structured approach to cost optimisation? 

And what about revenue generation? 

If you do both – kudos to you. 

Whatever your answer, I hope you are as close to the business as possible. And, if you’re close to the business, who knows, you may find some way to positively contribute to something of higher value than revenue to your organisation.

At Fusion5, we help businesses not only optimise costs but also transform their IT infrastructure into a driver of growth. Want to learn how we can help you evolve your architecture? Contact us today to explore how our integration and automation solutions can generate long-term value and revenue for your organisation.