With discovering, evaluating and analyzing all the collaboration tools being used in your organization, the process of changing your communication solution for the better can get a little messy.

At Lifesize, we understand how complicated your tech stack can get, especially when you have outsourced and ad-hoc solutions thrown in. In a recent survey we conducted with Spiceworks, we found that the average IT decision maker is managing around 4.4 solutions across three different providers. Not only do all these solutions make it easy to lose track of all the different tools, applications and systems every department uses across the organization, it also can get pretty rough on the company wallet.

So we teamed up with a couple of IT experts to put together some steps that you can take to get started on transforming your current communication stack into a well-organized, well-functioning and IT-driven collaboration ecosystem:

1. Take inventory of your current collaboration technologies and how often they’re being used

While it might take a little time and effort, identifying and taking inventory of all the different tools being used across your entire organization is a crucial step in your search for a better communication and collaboration solution. Creating an open dialogue with different departments can definitely help get that tech conversation started and ultimately make it easier for you to identify what tools are being used.

2. Identify the tools you simply don’t need

While you track down all the different tools being used around the office, find out what’s actually being used and what’s collecting dust in the corners of the office. Just by taking the time to assess the current tools, you can cut costs and start simplifying your collaboration stack.

3. Consolidate where possible

At this point, you’re probably going to start finding some overlap in features being used across your organization. And this is where you can start consolidating solutions to reduce the number of contracts, vendors and services you’re signed up for. Not only does this cut costs, it also makes it easier to control, manage and deploy across all departments.

4. Gather key stakeholders in each department to drive adoption of new tools

The next thing to do is get everyone in your organization on the same page. By finding a representative in each department who can take charge of adoption in their fields, you can smoothly transition your entire company into using a better solution while avoiding major setbacks that would turn end users away.