How to Run a Tool Rationalisation Sprint in 2 Weeks Using Just Excel

Hook: Cut tool sprawl and reclaim time in 2 weeks — with only Excel

Ops and procurement teams are drowning in subscriptions, manual reconciliations and endless tool debates. You don’t need a complex programme or a consultancy retainer to start reducing cost and complexity — you need a focused Excel-first sprint and practical templates that work in Excel today.

What this playbook delivers (most important first)

In 10 business days you will:

• Create a consolidated tool inventory using Power Query and licence data.
• Score every tool on cost, usage, risk and overlap to prioritise retirements.
• Run three focused workshops to align stakeholders and make go/no-go decisions.
• Retire at least one low-value tool and produce a repeatable runbook for future waves.

This is a practical, Excel-first sprint plan — templates, metrics and workshop scripts included. No heavy IT project, no heavyweight integrations: just Excel, shared drives (or SharePoint), and clear governance.

Why a two-week sprint matters in 2026

Late 2025 and early 2026 accelerated two trends: AI-driven tool proliferation and tighter operational budgets. As MarTech commentary in January 2026 noted, teams are tempting to trial every new AI productivity app — and the stack grows faster than governance can keep up. A short, intense sprint delivers fast wins, reduces SaaS debt, and creates the governance habits you need for continuous control.

Sprint overview: Roles, cadence and deliverables

Team and roles:

• Sprint lead (ops): runs workshops, coordinates data collection.
• Procurement owner: provides contracts and spend data.
• IT/Security SME: assesses integrations and compliance risk.
• Business reps: 1 per impacted area — they defend tool value.
• Excel specialist / analyst: builds Power Query joins, dashboards, and scoring logic.

Cadence: daily 15-minute standups; three workshops (Kickoff, Review, Decision); final sign-off and retirement actions.

Two-week day-by-day plan

Week 1 — Discover & Score

1. Day 1 — Kickoff Workshop (90 mins)
   • Objectives: align scope, confirm owners, agree data sources.
   • Output: sprint charter and data request list.
2. Day 2 — Inventory assembly
   • Collect subscriptions, vendor contracts, SSO logs, finance billing CSVs, and license counts.
   • Use Excel Power Query to import and normalise these files into a single tool registry.
3. Day 3 — Add usage & support metrics
   • Import SSO/SSO logs, support ticket exports, and feature usage reports into Power Query.
   • Map fields to the registry: ToolID, Vendor, MonthlyCost, ActiveUsers, LastUsedDate, IntegrationsCount.
4. Day 4 — Initial scoring
   • Apply scoring columns: CostScore, UsageScore, RiskScore, OverlapScore. Use weighted formulas (example below).
   • Build an interactive PivotTable dashboard (or Power Pivot model) to visualise high-cost/low-use tools.
5. Day 5 — Categorise & shortlist
   • Run filters for low UsageScore + high MonthlyCost and create a shortlist (10–15 tools).
   • Circulate a one-page snapshot per tool to business reps before the review workshop.

Week 2 — Validate, Decide & Retire

1. Day 6 — Deep-dive analyses
   • For shortlisted items, calculate operational impact: integrations to remove, data retention requirements, and migration needs.
   • Use Excel's LET and LAMBDA (2026 feature staples) for repeatable scoring logic.
2. Day 7 — Usage Review Workshop (60–75 mins)
   • Discuss usage pain vs. perceived value. Capture qualitative notes into the registry (use Data Types or a comments sheet).
   • Output: revised shortlist and decision criteria.
3. Day 8 — Final scoring & risk checks
   • Run legal and security checks (IT/Security SME) and capture mitigation steps in the registry.
4. Day 9 — Decision Workshop (90 mins)
   • Use the dashboard to present recommended retirements. Each tool gets a vote and a required stakeholder sign-off.
   • Output: Approved retirement list and an owner for each retirement action.
5. Day 10 — Execute retirement runbooks
   • Perform non-technical retirements (cancel subscriptions, stop renewals) and prepare data export/archival plans.
   • Document lessons, update the registry and schedule follow-ups for integrations removal.

Excel templates and sheets to build (or download)

Make each template a tab in a single workbook and protect structure while allowing data entry.

• Tool Registry (master) — columns: ToolID, Name, Vendor, MonthlyCost, AnnualCost, ActiveUsers, LastUsedDate, BusinessOwner, IntegrationsCount, ComplianceFlag, ScoreTotal.
• Raw Imports — separate tabs for BillingCSV, SSOLogs, SupportTickets.
• Scoring Engine — uses LAMBDA functions to calculate CostScore, UsageScore, OverlapScore and returns ScoreTotal.
• Dashboard — PivotTables + slicers: Cost vs Usage, Risk heatmap, Shortlist view.
• Decision Log — tracks votes, approvals and retirement dates.
• Runbook template — step-by-step actions when retiring a tool (export data, revoke access, cancel subscription, decommission integrations).

Tip: use Power Query to keep imports repeatable. Parameterise the folder path so you can drop new billing CSVs into a folder and refresh the model.

Key metrics, formulas and example thresholds

Use these metrics to prioritise objectively. Put them into the Scoring Engine with weights that reflect your organisation.

• Monthly Spend (S) — from finance billing CSV. Example threshold: >£500/mo considered material.
• Active User Rate (U) — ActiveUsers / LicensedSeats. Low usage threshold: <20%.
• Last Used (L) — days since last activity. Threshold: >180 days = dormant.
• Integration Count (I) — number of downstream connectors. High risk: >3 integrations.
• Support Tickets (T) — monthly tickets associated with tool. >5 tickets/mo signals friction.
• Overlap Score (O) — number of tool features duplicated by other tools (manually scored 0–5).

Sample weighted score (example):

ScoreTotal = 0.35*CostScore + 0.30*UsageScore + 0.20*RiskScore + 0.15*OverlapScore

Where:

• CostScore = normalized MonthlySpend (higher = higher score towards retirement).
• UsageScore = inverse of Active User Rate (lower usage = higher retirement candidate score).
• RiskScore = function(IntegrationsCount, ComplianceFlag, DataRetention) — higher risk weight reduces retirement likelihood or requires mitigation.
• OverlapScore = manual assessment of functional duplication.

Decide thresholds for auto-recommendation: e.g., ScoreTotal > 75% = shortlist for retirement; 50–75% = business review; <50% = keep.

Workshop scripts and artefacts

Short, structured workshops are the heart of the sprint. Use these scripts:

Kickoff (90 mins)

• Agenda: Sprint goals (10 mins), data sources and owners (20), demo tool registry (15), agree decision criteria and communication plan (30), Q&A (15).
• Artefact: Sprint charter and data request checklist.

Usage Review (60–75 mins)

• Agenda: Present shortlist (15), business owners explain value case (30), technical impact quick-check (15), assign action items (15).
• Artefact: Updated shortlist with business notes and mitigations.

Decision Workshop (90 mins)

• Agenda: Run the decision dashboard (20), review each candidate (5–10 mins per tool), vote and capture sign-offs (20), finalise retirement owners and timeline (20).
• Artefact: Signed decision log and retirement runbooks assigned to owners.

Practical Excel how-tos for speed

1. Power Query: Merge BillingCSV + SSO logs on email/username. Use fuzzy matching if usernames differ. Parameterise source path for fast refresh.
2. Dynamic arrays: use FILTER to create shortlists instantly: =FILTER(Tools[Name], Tools[ScoreTotal]>75)
3. LAMBDA: wrap complex scoring into a named function: =LAMBDA(cost,users,lastUsed, ... ) and call it across the table for consistency.
4. Power Pivot / Data Model: load large logs into the model to enable fast cross-analysis without bloating worksheets.
5. Office Scripts or Power Automate: automate export of the Decision Log to SharePoint and trigger email notifications to owners.
6. Copilot and AI helpers (2026): use Microsoft Copilot or Excel AI assist to summarise user comments into executive-friendly notes for workshops.

Rapid retirement runbook (checklist)

1. Confirm no active contracts that auto-renew — pause renewals where needed.
2. Export business data to a neutral format (CSV / JSON) and store in archive with retention metadata.
3. Disable SSO and remove access groups.
4. Redirect or retire integrations (API keys revoked) and update runbook entries in the registry.
5. Communicate to end users with timeframe, alternatives, and where to find archived data.
6. Update finance to stop billing and record savings in the registry for reporting.

Common obstacles and how to handle them

• “It solves a niche but critical problem” — map the specific user journey and consider keeping a small license pool for power users while retiring broad licences.
• Data retention / legal holds — consult legal early; some tools can be retired for active use but retained in read-only archive mode.
• Resistance from stakeholders — use usage and ticket evidence in workshops and offer short-term pilots for replacements.
• Hidden integrations — use integration discovery: review API keys, webhook recipients, and ask IT to scan network logs where available.

Measuring success and continuous governance

Short-term success metrics:

• Number of retirements completed within the sprint.
• Monthly cost savings realised (first 90 days post-retirement) — pair this with an automated tracker to monitor savings and price movements.
• Reduction in duplicate features across core toolset.

Long-term governance: schedule quarterly micro-sprints (half-day) to keep the registry current and catch new trials before they become debt. Store the workbook on SharePoint with version control, and require procurement to log any new trials into the registry before approval. Over time you’ll replace spreadsheets with a lightweight governance portal — but keep Excel as the single source of truth for your decision data. When you do that, treat automation and bots carefully—see guidance on autonomous agents and where to apply gating.

2026 trends that make this approach timely

AI tools and generative features exploded in 2024–2025. By 2026 organisations face a new problem: tool proliferation at the speed of product experimentation. At the same time, finance leaders are demanding rapid, evidence-led cost control. A short Excel-led sprint maps to both realities: fast, repeatable, and auditable.

"A sprint approach wins when you need fast alignment and a clear decision path — not endless committees." — Ops lead, enterprise software company (2025)

Also in 2026, Excel has matured with stronger data functions (LAMBDA patterns), better Power Platform interop and AI-assisted insights. Use these capabilities to automate the heavy lifting (or hand them to controlled micro-apps) and reserve stakeholder time for judgement calls.

Case example (condensed)

Mid-size UK retailer ran this two-week sprint in November 2025. Outcomes:

• Retired 3 marketing tools, saving £28k/year.
• Reduced integration incidents by 40% in next quarter.
• Established procurement gate: all new tools must be logged in the Excel registry with an expiry review date.

They used Power Query to join billing and SSO logs and built a scoring LAMBDA that became a reusable custom function across business units.

Actionable takeaways — what to do next (right now)

1. Run a 30-minute checklist session: identify one low-use, high-cost tool you can retire within 10 days.
2. Download or build the master Tool Registry workbook with Power Query imports for billing and SSO logs.
3. Schedule the three sprint workshops on the same two-week calendar and lock stakeholder attendance.
4. Use LAMBDA to codify scoring so the same logic can be reused every quarter.

Final notes on governance and scaling

Start small and standardise. This two-week sprint is the template for continuous control: repeat every quarter, bake the registry into procurement processes, and automate notifications using Power Automate. Over time you’ll replace spreadsheets with a lightweight governance portal — but keep Excel as the single source of truth for your decision data.

Call-to-action

If you’re ready to run your first two-week rationalisation sprint, we’ve prepared a starter kit: an Excel Tool Registry, Scoring Engine (LAMBDA-enabled), and three workshop slide decks — all pre-configured for UK finance formats. Download the kit, or book a 30-minute walkthrough with one of our Excel governance specialists to get your sprint scheduled this month.

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