Count Your Seats

Managed IT & Strategy
Written by Delcie Bean

 A Parapup Tech Tip from Ramona

I know exactly how many treats are in the jar. I count them every night. You should do the same with your software.

Most businesses pay for software by the seat: one license per person for email, Microsoft 365, accounting, design tools, phone systems and more. People come and go, and the licenses don't always go with them. A former employee's mailbox keeps a paid license. A free trial quietly turns into a monthly charge. Two teams buy two tools that do the same job. None of it is dramatic, but it adds up every single month.

How to count your seats

  1. Get the list. Ask whoever manages your IT for every paid license, who it's assigned to, and what it costs per month.

  2. Match it to your team. Compare the list to your current staff. Anyone who has left, or who never uses the tool, is a seat to review.

  3. Ask about former employees. If you need to keep someone’s email for records, ask whether it can be kept without a full paid license.

  4. Look for doubles. Two file-sharing tools, two video platforms, two password managers? Pick one.

  5. Check before you renew. Many subscriptions renew annually. Put the renewal dates on a calendar and review the seat count a month ahead.

Make it stick

Add one line to your offboarding checklist: “Remove or reassign this person’s software licenses.” Then do a full count once or twice a year.

Trimming unused seats is one of the easiest ways to bring your IT costs down without giving anything up. Good human.

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Delcie Bean

Since founding Paragus I.T. at the age of thirteen, serial entrepreneur Delcie Bean has started a total of five businesses, notably transforming Paragus I.T. into one of the most successful, fastest-growing IT firms in the region. The company’s unique corporate culture and strategic approach to providing outsourced I.T. services to small-to-medium sized businesses have earned many accolades, including Inc. Magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing businesses and Forbes Magazine’s 25 Small Giants. Under his leadership, Paragus has also been recognized as Worcester Business Journal’s Best Employee-Owned Company and a Massachusetts Employers Choice Award winner.

A recognized thought leader, Delcie frequently shares his insights on business, technology, and leadership. His writing includes an article for CNBC that garnered over one million reads, and he served as the 2026 commencement speaker at Nichols College, where he received an honorary Doctor of Business Administration. Delcie's leadership extends deep into the regional business ecosystem; he has served as the Northeast Regional Chair for YPO and advised state leadership on both the Governor of Massachusetts Economic Development Council and the Massachusetts Tech Hub Advisory Council.

As the company has grown, so has Delcie’s commitment to equity and inclusion. In 2014, he created Tech Foundry, an educational nonprofit designed to address the need for a skilled I.T. workforce by providing in-depth training for promising individuals from marginalized or underrepresented communities. He also served as a trustee to Bay Path University for nine years. His dedication to community and corporate ethics has been recognized with the BBB Torch Award for Ethics, the NCCJ Human Relations Award, and multiple Entrepreneur of the Year and 40 Under 40 honors from Business West and the Worcester Business Journal.

Delcie is deeply committed to reinventing the modern workplace. In 2016, Delcie began the process of transitioning Paragus to a 100% employee-owned company which he completed in 2024. Today, Delcie is on a mission to grow Paragus into a $250 million firm with offices all throughout the country. In doing so, Delcie aims to create more than 100 employee-owner millionaires. When he isn’t at the helm of Paragus, Delcie is living the quiet life with his wife of 15 years and their three boys in southern NH.

https://linkedin.com/in/delciebean
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