Stack consolidation cases: fewer tools, better numbers

Stack consolidation cases: fewer tools, better numbers

Six teams that cut their tool count and came out ahead. With the savings and the catches. Curated to close.

— 1. A scale-up collapsed 7 point tools into a CDP+warehouse — cut $140K/yr in licenses and removed 4 sync points that broke monthly. Read if your stack is held together with Zapier.
— 2. A SaaS dropped a separate CDP for warehouse-native — saved the CDP license but added engineering load; honest tradeoff is the whole point. Skip if you lack a data team.
— 3. A retailer merged 3 analytics tools into one — ended the 'which number is right?' meetings; decision speed, not cost, was the win. The governance lesson matters.
— 4. A media co cut ESP+SMS+push into one platform — orchestration across channels lifted multi-channel revenue 15%. Essential if your channels don't talk.
— 5. A fintech's overlap audit — found 3 tools doing enrichment; consolidating cut $40K and improved match rates. The audit checklist is reusable.
— 6. A DTC's 'buy vs build' reversal — replaced an over-built internal tool with a $20K SaaS, freed two engineers for revenue work. Read for the un-sunk-cost discipline.

That's the stack for this week. Forward to a teammate.