Nobody sets out to run twenty-two tools. A stack grows one reasonable decision at a time: a team needs to solve a problem, finds a tool, and signs up. A few years later, nobody can say what half of them are for.
The 30% in the title is a rule of thumb, not a promise. It reflects how much overlap tends to build up in growing companies. Here is how we approach finding yours.
Start with an honest inventory
You cannot cut what you cannot see. Build a single list of every tool the company pays for, and do not rely on memory. Check card statements, expense reports, and your single sign-on logs, because tools bought on a team’s own budget are the ones most likely to be missed.
For each tool, record:
- Who owns it, and who actually uses it.
- What it costs, and when the contract renews.
- What problem it solves.
- What else depends on it, such as integrations or reports.
Sort into keep, merge, and retire
With the list in hand, patterns appear quickly. Some tools are essential. Some do something another tool you already own can do. Some have no clear owner and almost no users.
Take the renewal dates seriously. A tool that is easy to retire but renews next week deserves attention before one that is complicated but locked in for a year.
Decide where each piece of data lives
This is the step most teams skip, and it is the one that prevents the mess from coming back. For each kind of information, such as customers, orders, inventory, and invoices, choose one system of record. Other tools can read from it, but only one is the source of truth.
Once that is settled, it becomes much clearer which tools are redundant, and which integrations are worth building.
Migrate in waves, and run in parallel
The way to avoid breaking anything is to avoid big-bang cutovers. Move one workflow at a time, and schedule each move away from your busiest periods. Run the old and new tools side by side until the numbers match, then switch off the old one.
Keep a short rollback plan for each wave. It rarely gets used, but having it lets the team move with confidence.
Keep it from growing back
A stack that has just been cleaned will drift back unless there is a simple rule for new purchases:
- Every tool has a named owner.
- A new tool needs a short case for why existing tools cannot do the job.
- The inventory gets a review once a year, ahead of renewals.
The goal is not the smallest possible stack. It is a stack where every tool has a clear job, a clear owner, and a clear place in how information flows. Cost savings tend to follow, but the bigger gain is a team that can trust its own numbers.