A friend proposed this delemma:
Company has about 20 domains registered that are "parked" (owned but never used). They are combinations and permutations of product names that were considered but not used, or were selected but are more like internal code names that might be mentioned in PowerPoint presentations but aren't really products.
When they were registered it was presented as the most important thing in the world to get them registered. It wasted about half a day total when you consider the time I spent registering them, paying the bills, and all the communication back and forth about which were available or not.
Now it's time to renew them. If I do nothing they will expire and there is very little risk that anyone will ever notice. If I ask the right people, it will waste another half a day of my time debating their value and then renewing them, processing the bills, etc. If I let them expire and then try to get props for saving money, I run the risk of rubbing someone the wrong way for not asking permission.
The company is currently putting a big emphasis on not wasting money. So if I demonstrate that I saved $100 that would put be in a good light. However, it will cost the company more than $100 in my salary to find out if I have permission to not renew them.
What do you think he should do?
I would talk to the decision maker to ensure that they still want them rather than having the said domains expire and have issues with management over not doing his/her job properly and informing them first prior to the domains expiring.