Across the higher education and public sectors, a familiar challenge is re-emerging—tightening budgets and rising pressure to reduce IT spend without compromising user experience or core capabilities.
At CAG, our senior team has helped over 100 organizations—from Fortune 500 companies to community colleges and large universities—tackle these challenges head-on. Many higher ed and public institutions are facing meaningful budget reductions for the first time in years. Some have time to plan, others have to move quickly.
One often overlooked opportunity? Making better use of the talent institutions already have. Rather than filling roles with new hires, we help assess whether existing team members have the capabilities to take on those responsibilities—saving money and empowering staff at the same time.
Your Institution Isn’t Generic. Neither Is Our Approach.
IT is central to everything from student services and classroom delivery to administration and research. Cutting spend too aggressively—or in the wrong areas—can lead to operational bottlenecks, user frustration, and security risks. But doing nothing isn’t an option either. Leaders are being asked to find savings—and fast.
That’s why our approach always starts with a conversation. No two institutions face the same challenges, and no template can capture the nuance of your environment. Our recommendations are grounded in industry benchmarks but tailored to your structure, goals, and priorities.
Whether you’re looking to consolidate technology platforms, avoid unnecessary hires by better leveraging internal talent, or reinvest savings into mission-critical areas, our team works directly with yours to define and deliver cost strategies that make sense in your world.
What Makes Our Approach Work?
- Tailored Assessments: No cookie-cutter templates. We assess your IT environment against both best practices and your internal goals.
- Real Benchmarks: Our insights come from real-world data across higher ed, public sector, and commercial clients.
- Operational Focus: We don’t just identify savings, we help you redirect those savings to improve the capabilities that matter most.
- People Optimization: We evaluate internal staff capabilities to see where roles can be filled or expanded without the need for external hires.
- Minimal Disruption: Our methods are designed to reduce costs with as little impact to users, services, and uptime as possible.
You Don’t Have to Guess Where to Cut — Let’s Talk
Too often, IT leaders are left to guess which levers to pull. But with the right approach, you can cut costs without cutting capability and come out of a tightening cycle with an IT operation that’s not just leaner, but stronger.
If you’re facing budget pressure or preparing for difficult decisions, you don’t have to go it alone. Let’s set up a conversation with one of our senior experts. We’ll walk you through a custom-tailored assessment designed around your environment—and your goals.
Connect with us today to get started: https://columbiaadvisory.com/contact
