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As data and information technology become more central to the workplace, IT costs go up. That’s just a fact. Today, the average small-to-midsized business (SMB) spends over 6.4% of its revenue on IT services and hardware.
This is a significant number, and despite the fact that a robust, well-maintained IT infrastructure is essential to running your business, you may be looking for ways to reduce your overall spending on IT.
Well, you’re in luck! We’re here with 5 simple steps you can take to reduce IT costs – without decreasing the efficiency or performance of your IT department!
- Migrating To The Cloud And SaaS (Software as a Service)
If you’re still using on-site IT infrastructure and software, you could save a significant amount of money by transitioning to a cloud-based, SaaS IT model.
The costs of running, maintaining, and operating your own servers and hardware for a number of IT companies NJ, are very significant. The cost of upgrading and maintaining a server, the power to run a server, and the cost of cooling your server room adds up to staggering numbers.
In fact, it’s estimated that a single on-premises server can cost over $1,400 to run each month. In contrast, a comparable cloud-based server costs only around $313 a month – a 79% cost savings!
- Renegotiating Service Contracts
If you’ve partnered with a number of vendors, VoIP companies, or ISPs for several years, there’s a good chance you can save some money simply by renegotiating your service contracts.
You may find that your service providers are offering lower rates to new customers, or that you can convince them to give you a better rate because you’ve been a great customer for a long period of time.
While you won’t always be able to save money doing this, it takes very little time and effort – so it’s always worth contacting telephony companies, ISPs, and other vendors to see if they can cut you a break, and negotiate a lower rate.
- Cancelling Unused Services/Software
You would be surprised at how many unused services and software are common in IT departments. Perhaps you bought a subscription to a specialized piece of 3D imaging software for a particular project – and simply forgot to cancel it
Take a look at your IT department’s expenditures. Identify each recurring monthly payment, and understand what each one is for. There’s a very high chance that you’ll find payments for software and services that you no longer use – and eliminating these is a great way to reduce your IT spending.
- Consider Outsourcing IT Help Desk Services
Many IT departments in small-to-medium sized businesses are overworked. Often, your techs must function as help desk personnel, in addition to performing more complex and advanced IT tasks.
Outsourcing IT help desk services can help you save money and increase efficiency, because your current staff will be able to focus on more long-term work. Not only that, outsourcing IT help desk services is usually cheaper than hiring a dedicated help desk professional – which means you won’t have to hire as many staff members.
- Implementing An IT Asset Management Strategy
It’s hard to create an accurate IT budget without understanding your current IT assets, their location, and their condition. Despite this, many SMBs still don’t use IT asset management software.
IT asset management software allows you to track all of your valuable IT equipment, understand the condition each piece is in, and provides you with a quick, “at-a-glance” way to see the overall health of your IT systems.
An IT asset management strategy, therefore, allows you to prioritize IT spending based on what systems are the oldest and most outdated – providing you with insights that can help you save some serious money when shopping for new hardware or vendors.
Don’t Waste Your IT Budget – Cut Your Costs With These Strategies Today!
While it’s important to have a healthy IT budget, that doesn’t mean you need to waste money on unnecessary staff, services, or software. So check out these simple cost-saving techniques today. You’re sure to find areas where you can improve, and start saving quite a bit of money!
