A civil engineering firm in Salt Lake City spent a single afternoon auditing their IT systems, software stack, and workflows. What they found was startling:
Three disconnected project management tools (used inconsistently across departments). Two file-sharing platforms with mismatched folder structures. Data entered manually into Civil 3D, then again in Deltek, and again in Excel.
Hours lost every week. Deadlines delayed due to missing files. Duplicate effort between project managers and admin staff.
In total, they were losing over $240,000 per year in inefficiencies. By February, they had consolidated platforms, automated repetitive workflows, and set up streamlined communication protocols. Their Revit users got more time for modeling. Their PMs stopped copy-pasting between apps.
And yes, the owner booked that long-postponed trip to Hawaii.
Here's how Salt Lake City engineering firms can uncover serious savings by eliminating common IT money pits—and reinvest those resources where it actually matters.
Money Pit #1: Communication Chaos (Cost: $4,550–$6,100/month for a 10-person team)
Your engineers are bouncing between Teams, email, text threads, phone calls, and the occasional Bluebeam markup. You waste hours tracking down where that one PDF went or which version is actually the final.
The real cost: Engineering teams spend 3–4 hours weekly searching for design files, spec sheets, or decisions buried in chat logs. For a 10-person team billing $35/hour, that's $54,600–$72,800 in wasted time per year.
Example: One Salt Lake City firm used Slack for quick chats, Outlook for client communication, Deltek for project tracking, and a group text for field updates. Nobody could find the latest plan set. Junior engineers burned time chasing down links. Senior engineers kept asking for the same project status report three times.
The fix:
- Designate ONE channel for each category:
- Field updates = Project management platform
- Internal questions = Teams
- Client communication = Email
- Documentation = Shared cloud folder (organized!)
- Set a rule: "If it's not in [primary system], it doesn't exist."
Time saved: Just 2 hours reclaimed weekly per team member = $36,400 annually.
Money Pit #2: Disconnected Software Tools (Cost: $400–$1,900/month)
Manual data entry is still happening. New site data gets logged into Deltek, then entered into Excel, then copied into client reports. It’s inefficient, error-prone, and completely avoidable in 2026.
Real example: A structural engineering firm in Utah had separate systems for time tracking, job costing, and billing. Nothing synced. A project coordinator spent 10+ hours a week reconciling invoices manually. One bad cell in a spreadsheet led to a $15,000 invoicing error.
They fixed it by: Integrating their core software platforms using low-code automation tools. Now:
- Timesheets feed directly into project cost reports
- Invoicing pulls from job codes
- Client folders update in real time when site photos or punch lists are uploaded
Time saved: 10 hours/week across 4 people = $72,800 in recovered productivity.
Your Hawaii fund: Even modest integration saves $5,000–$20,000/year.
Money Pit #3: Paying for Software You Don’t Use (Cost: $500–$1,500/month)
Here’s a tough question: Do you know exactly what IT tools and licenses your firm pays for?
Most engineering firms think they do—until they look. Hidden in the books are:
- BIM software licenses still assigned to former employees
- Two file-sharing platforms used inconsistently
- A Zoom license despite everyone now using Teams
- Trial versions of spec tools that quietly renewed into paid subscriptions
Example: A mid-sized MEP firm audited their IT spend and found:
- Duplicate project tools (Asana and Trello)
- Overlapping storage (Dropbox and SharePoint)
- $800/month in legacy software no one had used since 2022
The fix:
- Run a 3-month lookback on all credit card and ACH charges
- List every software license or subscription
- Ask:
- Is anyone using this?
- Does another tool already do this?
- Would we re-purchase this today?
- Cancel ruthlessly
Savings: $6,000–$18,000 annually. That’s the whole trip.
Add It Up: Your 2026 Engineering Travel Fund
Even conservative savings add up fast:
- Communication cleanup: $36,400/year
- Workflow automation: $8,000/year
- Cutting wasteful subscriptions: $6,000/year
Total: $50,400 in reclaimed productivity and cost savings. That’s not fantasy. That’s math.
Use it for:
- A strategic hire
- New plotter hardware
- Quarterly bonuses for your engineers
- That dream vacation with your family
Or just hold onto it and breathe easier next time the market slows down.
Let’s Find Your Hidden IT Budget
At Qual IT, we help Salt Lake City engineering firms stop bleeding money through inefficient systems, unused software, and reactive IT support. We specialize in IT services for engineering firms—helping you streamline, secure, and scale without wasting a cent.
Click here to book your free network assessment
Because in this economy, your money should be going to smart tools, efficient workflows, and maybe a beachfront rental—not a stack of forgotten subscriptions and copy-paste chaos.
