Message from the COO - Optimising travel and technology expenditure for future sustainability
Earlier this year we established the ANU Expenditure Taskforce which is attempting to capture $150 million in savings from our ongoing non-salary operational expenses. Membership of this taskforce can be found here.
The Expenditure Taskforce recently conducted a comprehensive analysis of a number of expenditure categories. Following last week’s update, this week we will discuss some insights from the analysis of travel and technology expenditure, and some of the opportunities for savings identified. The findings highlight key areas where change is necessary to better manage costs and improve resource utilisation.
Travel expenditure
In 2024, our forecast travel spend is $44 million across the ANU, a 5.2 per cent year-on-year increase compared to 2023. We have an existing travel management system but usage isn’t mandatory and uptake is around 35 per cent (i.e. two thirds of University travel isn’t booked through the ANU travel management system), meaning we don’t have consistent controls across the University. We are in the process of implementing a new travel management system and are looking to mandate the use of the new university travel provider.
International business class flights, which account for just 7 per cent of provider flight bookings, contribute to 25 per cent of the total flight spend, due to the high cost of this class of travel. For example, when booking 30 days in advance, premium economy fares to our top 10 international destinations are 135 per cent more expensive than economy fares, while business class fares are 295 per cent more expensive. One consideration is to restrict the purchasing of business class fares for international booking, favouring instead economy for short haul flights and premium economy for long haul flights, requiring multiple quotes for international travel, and choosing competitive airlines rather than a single airline of choice.
Over 20 per cent of domestic travel is booked within 7 days of the travel start date, which increases cost significantly. Furthermore, almost 20 per cent of airfares booked are flexi-fares, yet very few of these are modified, raising questions about whether this flexibility is really worth the cost.
We will focus on implementing more consistent and economical approaches to travel across ANU in order to get better value for money.
Software licences & IT consumables
Our current 2024 projected software and licence spend is $28 million, marking a 5 per cent year-on-year increase compared to 2023. Although CPI plays a big part in this, like many organisations, we have struggled with a fragmented approach to software purchasing. Different departments often make independent decisions, leading to some duplication and missed opportunities for savings. One recommendation being considered by the Taskforce is the retirement of software that duplicates functionality or can be replaced with lower cost options.
Our ITS team already actively manage 87 enterprise software licenses, with an annual spend of around $16 million. While this process is effective, there is still more we can do by bringing departments together to review and streamline the software we use. As part of the 2025 Asset Management Plans, ITS will partner with business sponsors and other areas to review the software on this list, identifying any that could be retired or consolidated into fewer tools. Additionally, the annual process of negotiating contracts with vendors will continue, focusing on securing the best possible deals and reducing price increases.
One issue we have identified is that some software is being purchased by departments even though we already hold university-wide licenses. For example, Adobe products are being bought multiple times, and tools like DropBox are being used where there are suitable alternatives available through our existing enterprise agreements. We also have an opportunity to consolidate tools, such as project management platforms like Smartsheet, Monday, Asana, and Atlassian, under a single license, simplifying our processes and reducing costs.
A multi-faceted approach is needed to support change in this area including process improvements for licence consolidation and better availability of information on already licensed software.
Other areas for improvement are personal computer spending and University funded mobile devices. By reassessing device specifications for personal computers, we could potentially save up to $480k annually. We also have varying approaches across ANU on the provision of University funded mobile phones. We have an opportunity to adopt a more principled, needs based and consistent approach in what we provide for our staff.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Churchill
Chief Operating Officer
