The Utility Meter Reading Service (from MSP franchising operation The Utility Company) lets you or your customer prospect plug in IT spending information into a Web form to determine just how much of their existing technology investment is actually put to use.

You can plug in information in four different areas: IT spending (broken down between hardware, software and service); operations (the processes that technology is used to automate); communications (pretty much what it sounds like); and management (more business management and workflow ideas).

If nothing else, the service might be the basis of your own IT assessment conversations.

Aside from budget data, the tool asks questions around the IT budgeting process; queries for help desk and technical support organization; asks the prospect or solution provider to consider whether there are processes and procedures around acquisition, asset management and capacity planning; and gathers information about the company's use of the Internet in its communications and commerce activities.

What processes do you use to gauge your customers' IT savvy? Even if you're not interested in suggesting a managed service (which is The Utility Company's ulterior motive), by formalizing the collection of the data, you have already provided prospects with a valuable service.

Got any bright ideas? Vendor politics got you down? E-mail me at hclancy@cmp.com.