A Salt Lake City architecture firm principal spent one hour in late December auditing every piece of software, app, and IT service their 18-person studio used. The results were eye-opening.
The design team used two different project management platforms—neither connected. CAD and BIM files were stored in three separate cloud systems. Admins manually copied client contact info between the CRM, project folder, and invoicing platform. Team communication? A patchwork of Teams, Slack, and endless e-mail threads labeled "FINAL-FINAL-REALLY-THIS-IS-THE-LAST VERSION.DWG."
Twelve wasted hours per employee per week. That’s 11,232 hours annually at $40/hour. Translation? Over $449,280 of productivity lost to disconnected tech and inefficient workflows.
By January, they consolidated their tools, implemented automation, and tightened up their communication systems. Their design teams got their hours back. The firm’s margins improved. And yes, the principal booked that long-overdue Maui trip.
Here’s how you can do the same with smarter IT support for Salt Lake City architecture firms.
Money Pit #1: Communication Confusion (Cost: $4,800–$6,400/month for a 10-person team)
Architectural firms live and die by collaboration—but too often, your collaboration tools are doing more harm than good.
Your firm is using:
- Microsoft Teams for some meetings
- Slack for quick chats
- E-mail for everything else
- Texts for when people can’t find the thread
That missing link on the redlines? It’s buried in someone’s inbox. The updated model file? Uploaded to the wrong channel.
Real cost: 3–4 hours per person per week hunting for files, double-confirming decisions, or clarifying instructions. At $40/hour, that’s up to $1,600/week for 10 staff—over $76,800 per year.
Real example: One Salt Lake design studio had Revit updates being discussed in Slack, marked up in Bluebeam, and finalized over e-mail. Result? Duplicate efforts, frustrated clients, and a team constantly playing catch-up.
The fix:
- ONE place for internal team chat (pick Teams or Slack, not both)
- ONE system for project communication (Revit comments, Bluebeam, or PM software)
- ONE tool for client updates (e.g., a CRM with client notes, not e-mail chains)
- Implement the rule: "If it’s not documented in [system], it didn’t happen."
Time saved: 2 hours/week per employee = 1,040 hours annually for a 10-person team. That’s $41,600 recaptured.
Money Pit #2: Disconnected Systems (Cost: $500–$2,200/month)
Your team wins a new project. One person updates the CRM. Another sets up folders in SharePoint. Finance sets up the client in QuickBooks. The project manager creates a timeline in Monday.com. Everyone manually enters the same information—four times.
Why it matters: This kind of disconnected workflow leads to data errors, missed details, and hours wasted on busywork that software could do in seconds.
Real example: A local architecture firm had to update five different systems when a new client signed on. With 10 new projects a month, the admin team was spending over 20 hours/month duplicating entries.
They switched to a cloud-based project hub integrated with their CRM, accounting, and scheduling software. Now, one entry populates every tool automatically.
Time saved: 20+ hours/month = 240 hours/year = $9,600 back in the budget.
Money Pit #3: Subscriptions You Forgot You Had (Cost: $500–$1,700/month)
When was the last time you looked at your architecture firm’s software subscriptions?
Common culprits:
- Paying for multiple versions of Revit or AutoCAD when you only need one license
- Project management tools trialed but never canceled
- Redundant cloud storage services (Box, Dropbox, SharePoint)
- Design plug-ins that auto-renew without use
Real example: A boutique firm discovered they were paying for:
- Two project management platforms (Asana and Trello)
- Three cloud storage solutions
- A rendering software license used once a year
Total bloat? $9,300 annually.
The fix:
- Review your last three months of bank and credit card statements
- List every recurring software charge
- Ask:
- Are we actively using this?
- Does something else we pay for already do this?
- If we started from scratch, would we buy this again?
Cancel everything that fails those tests.
Time cost: One hour to find $9,000+ in pure savings.
Add It Up: Your Firm’s Vacation Fund
Let’s say you run a 12-person architecture firm in Salt Lake City. Modest improvements alone could yield:
- Communication cleanup = $36,000 saved annually
- System integration = $10,000 saved annually
- Subscription cuts = $9,000 saved annually
Total: $55,000/year.
That’s a firm-wide retreat, new equipment, hiring capacity—or, yes, a first-class vacation.
And this isn’t a one-time bump. These savings repeat every single year.
Stop Wasting Time and Money on Broken Tech
The firm from our opening story didn’t start with a full IT overhaul. They simply:
- Asked, "What’s actually helping us?"
- Audited their systems with their MSP
- Made a plan to streamline and automate
The result? Fewer distractions, happier clients, less admin waste, and better project delivery.
You can do the same. At Qual IT, we specialize in managed IT services for architecture firms in Salt Lake City. We help you find and eliminate tech bloat, streamline your systems, and boost team productivity without disrupting your design process.
Book Your Free Network Assessment
We’ll help you identify where you’re overspending, under-automating, and unintentionally sabotaging your team’s time. You don’t need new software. You need smarter IT.
Click here to book your free network assessment
Because your budget should be building better architecture—not burning in backend tech you forgot you had.
