No matter the size of the business or shape of the economy, increasing efficiency while reducing costs is important for any business. IT costs are an especially important area to monitor, due to the constant innovation in the technology industry. There are always options and alternatives available for businesses to incorporate into their technology road map.
Whether it is cloud computing, adding more secure technologies, keeping updated with newer platforms to boost efficiencies, or promoting collaboration between teams, here are a few ways to reduce IT costs:
CapEX to OpEX
If a business is required to spend heavy upfront costs to refresh their hardware and licenses every 3 to 5 years on average, then they are operating under a Capital Expenditure model (CapEx). Switching to an Operating Expenditure (OpEx) model frees up cash flow to keep your business flexible. Under an OpEx model, hardware, software and licensing are handled for a monthly fee. It includes all the upgrades and updates that businesses need to stay current with the latest technology.
Operating in an OpEx model allows you to pivot between platforms and try out new technologies with minimal investment.
Vendor Options
The future of cloud computing isn’t vendor specific. With more innovation and competition in the industry, there are also more options available for businesses. They can combine different cloud computing platforms or hosting options into a custom, balanced, and efficient environment. In the cloud space the main competitors are Google GCP, Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. With these options, businesses adapt multi cloud strategies finding the perfect combination that aligns with their requirements.
Productivity applications such as Google G Suite and Microsoft 365 bring teams together with robust communication and collaboration tools. Teams improve the way they work by leveraging centralized platforms, ultimately promoting productivity.
Scalable Cloud and Costs
Some of the key benefits of migrating to the cloud are cost savings and scalability.
First and foremost, cloud migration reduces costs because the cloud providers handle all the upgrades, maintenance and risk. Their expertise saves businesses from having to increase IT spend unnecessarily.
Secondly, scalability grants businesses flexibility. This allows businesses to pay for only what they actually use. Moving workloads to the public cloud allows them to scale up and down minimizing overhead on support and overall costs.
Colocation
Partnering with a hosting provider can cut IT costs. This is because managing an on-prem environment is very expensive. Along with the costs of hardware and staff, businesses also need to have a dedicated space for equipment with proper cooling, power, bandwidth connectivity and security. This translates to high overhead costs.
In some industries, businesses must follow specific compliance and regulatory requirements that require them to host their own data. They are restricted to fully migrating to the cloud. This is where colocation comes in. By colocating their own hardware in a Data Center, businesses that need to host their own data are able to significantly cut costs. The costly infrastructure is all managed by a hosting provider.
Contract Reviews
Due to the overwhelming nature of cloud services, most businesses actually overspend on their technology budget. Businesses looking to save should review their contracts for opportunities to optimize their costs..
Small and medium businesses are not alone when it comes to cloud contracts. They have the option of getting an independent cloud contract audit from a truly platform independent technology service provider. This audit is a comprehensive contract review that assesses current requirements and map that to specific technology solutions. Procurement specialists conduct a competitive analysis of different cloud providers, so businesses can partner with the vendor that best aligns with their technology road map.
An independent cloud contract audit can result in significant savings.
Managed Services
Some businesses might have a handful of independent individuals who work separately to solve IT problems. However, the synergy between a team that covers all the IT support is unmatched. A full team of IT specialists can solve just about any problem a business may run into. Leveraging a team that has a wide array of skill sets means businesses can rely on full coverage, without worrying about spending more for unforeseen problems. Streamline IT support with one monthly fee, and have all the IT support covered by a team of experts.
Remote Work Environments
Remote work is very different today and it keeps evolving. Since a larger percentage of employees are now working remotely, it is no longer cost effective to do things the way they were once done. But how should businesses meet their employees remote work needs, upgrade their IT infrastructure and at the same time cut costs? With Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). When implemented strategically, VDI can reduce IT overhead and save money, but also meet the needs of employees while leveraging cloud based applications.
By centralizing the management of remote environments, a VDI environment makes it easier for businesses, no matter their size, to work with remote workers. Regardless of where the employees are working from they have access to the same network and resources to stay connected to the company.
Technology is constantly changing and improving the way we work. Understand your requirements and assess your options. Utilizing the strategies above will reduce IT costs while improving efficiencies.