Technology ROI
Building Technology ROI: How to Prove Savings After Implementation
For CFO, CRE, FM, procurement, asset owners and technology sponsors.
Evidence checked · Guide updated
An improved metric, approved business case or deployed system is not evidence that the intended financial or workplace benefit has been realised.
Independent educational decision guidance, not an assessment of an individual supplier or a certification, compliance determination or guarantee of outcomes. Check current sources and organisation-specific constraints.
Separate the predicted case from the realised result
An investment case estimates future effects based on assumptions. The outcome review examines what actually changed. Keep both visible; do not rewrite the original forecast after implementation to make the decision appear more accurate.
Define financial and non-financial outcomes
Possible outcomes include controllable operating spend, actual lease-related savings, avoided maintenance cost, energy use, service performance, access to appropriate workspace and employee experience. Translate measures into money only when a defensible financial mechanism exists.
Define the counterfactual
Ask what would likely have happened without the investment. Compare retention or reconfiguration of existing technology, operational policy adjustments and new procurement. External changes in prices, attendance or weather may affect reported results independently of the intervention.
Distinguish capacity from cash savings
Removing available desks or showing a higher utilisation rate does not automatically change lease commitments. A floor may be unused but still leased, heated, cleaned or maintained. Identify which costs can actually be reduced, when, and subject to what constraints.
Count implementation and switching costs
Include hardware, software, integration, migration, training, downtime, support, operational staffing, parallel running, cyber assurance and future exit costs. Explicitly distinguish one-off and recurring items to avoid a favourable first-year picture masking a poor lifecycle case.
Avoid counting the same benefit twice
Improved scheduling, lower energy consumption and reduced space may describe linked rather than additive effects. Assign each benefit one owner, one calculation method and an explanation of dependencies. Include an uncertainty range when evidence is incomplete.
Decide how outcomes will be measured before the purchase
Establish baselines, measurement windows, seasonal adjustments, responsibility and review dates. Define thresholds that would trigger correction, extension, replacement or termination. Without advance criteria, the outcome review can become retrospective storytelling.
Treat adoption and working practices as part of the investment
Technology value depends on whether teams adopt workable processes and whether the configuration fits real operational needs. A deployment milestone is not a realised business benefit. Conversely, a useful practice change without new software may be the better investment.
Review unintended consequences
A restriction can influence behaviour and the next dataset. Lower use after closing a floor may reflect lost availability rather than reduced underlying demand. Examine service-level changes, busy-day capacity and workforce impacts alongside financial measures.
Make renewal a fresh decision
At renewal, compare actual outcomes against the original purpose and alternatives available now. Continue, reconfigure, renegotiate, replace or exit. A sunk implementation cost is not evidence that extending the contract is optimal.
Questions buyers ask
Practical questions, bounded answers.
What specific business outcome is the investment meant to achieve?
Which costs will change in cash terms, and when?
Which benefits are non-financial and how will they be assessed?
What is the relevant no-change or reconfiguration alternative?
What assumptions are most sensitive to error?
Does the forecast include migration, support and exit costs?
Are benefits overlapping or counted more than once?
How will external changes be separated from technology effects?
What evidence will establish the implementation actually worked?
Who owns outcome measurement after procurement closes?
What triggers a corrective action or early review?
At renewal, can we justify retaining this technology on current evidence?
Evidence and standards context
Sources, status and scope.
Source status describes the cited material, not a vendor or product certification. Confirm the applicable version, jurisdiction and implementation context for each decision.
ISO · Published; verify latest version · See publisher
FM management systems standard; verify current revision.
ISO · Published; verify latest version · See publisher
Asset management system requirements, not ROI performance evidence.
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Move from general guidance to a governed decision context.
PROVE TDI structures the requirements, evidence, alternatives, uncertainty and accountable conclusion for a specific enterprise technology decision.