In the SEO strategy framework I'm evolving I've called out a number of pillars of where you drive performance: culture, ways of working, data/insight/innovation, platform, configurations, content and links. I mainly see tooling as tech as ignitors and enablers of those pillars. As without the appropriate tooling and tech you won't either be able to get started or build on progress.
And given that an SEO strategy is the definition of where we are, where we need to be and how we need to get there; then we should think of tooling and tech purely through the lens on the allocation of resources to meet that end. In short: don't waste this budget, it, along with human resource, will drive your strategy forward.
When you have identified your rocks consider if it is a lack of tooling & tech is a dependency of a successful outcome. To do that get your list of your current tooling & tech and identify how effectively it solves those challenges. I'd have a list of tooling down the the left handside and the rocks a cross the top. Then for each corresponding cell set the intensity of a colour corresponding to how well it contributing to solving that problem.
The outcome should hopefully show that you have some tools that just don't deliver what you need in the future. Then map out renewals, engage with your legal team regarding exiting the contracts/renewals etc.
Teams may be emotionally tied to specific tools so make sure you consult with them. I use a Google questionnaire in this process where I ask the team, for each tool, how well it meets their needs, how much of the capability we use and any supporting information. This should make it much easier to do the tooling v. rock matrix.
Then work with your team to identify which tools are best set to cover your needs in the period concerned. Replicate the matrix and label it something like 'ideal situation' compared to the 'current situation'.
The way I see tooling and tech resource is that you should have few strategic tools that have very clear focus. It may be one enterprise tool for platform analysis and alerting & monitoring. If you're weighting configurations in your strategy then have another enterprise tool to help with this. You may have another tool for link profile analysis and outreach management. Then you may have tactical tools which you use on an ad hoc basis. This may be a tool like Screaming Frog or SiteBulb to work on specific issues.
My view is that you should has as few tools necessary to expertly solve problems. If you have too many tools and/or undefined hierarchy of tools then you'll waste too much time moving between them. You want to give your team freedom to solve problems, but if have multiple individuals working on a site then their data needs to be transferable between them.
Furthermore, when it comes to efficiencies, not least when you have new starters, it is vital that you have clearly defined processes that are followed - but can evolve so that the team moves to a state of collective excellence.
The end result is that you should be spending your tooling & tech budget with a high degree of efficiency and is clearly aligned to desired outcomes.
When you look at your strategy you may actually determine that your tooling & tech is in such a poor state that you actually decide that resolving this problem is a rock in itself and that's fine. It its severely holding back delivery of your objectives then absolutely add it in. You'll probably want to solve this first.
I'm also a big fan of giving responsibility of tooling & tech to one individual within the team to hold your decisions to account and be close to the problems. Ensure that anything that is holding back delivery of your objectives and can be solved by technology should be raised with you and you collectively solve the problem.
Now, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be innovative, the exact opposite in fact. The idea is that you cut out the known-low-value tooling & tech to give the budgetary and headspace freedom to try new things - to innovate. This later part probably deserves a post of its own.