In today’s fast-paced business world, technology plays a critical role in driving growth and success. However, maintaining and upgrading technology can also be a major expense for many organizations. This is why IT cost optimization has become a top priority for many companies who are staring down budget constraints while still trying to keep their technology up to date and keep them competitive in the marketplace.
Table of Contents
Here are five key strategies that can help you with your IT cost optimization
1. Assess your current IT infrastructure & risks regularly
It is important to get an understanding of where your IT infrastructure & risk is at today, so that more educated decisions can be made for tomorrow. A comprehensive assessment should be performed to help provide a business IT strategy that outlines how technology should be used to meet your business goals in order to minimize extraneous expenses that don’t provide much real business value. Additionally, having a cybersecurity risk assessment performed to show security vulnerabilities and an outlined path to remediate can identify important gaps that require attention to minimize unexpected costs in the future. These two assessments are a great place to start to identify your business’ next IT steps. Read more about Advance2000 Cybersecurity Risk Assessment and IT Strategy solutions to protect your business and eliminate your IT risks and cyber vulnerabilities.
2. Utilize cloud computing
Cloud computing can help you reduce costs by eliminating the need to invest in expensive hardware, such as workstations, servers, storage, firewalls, appliances, and the overhead associated with managing and maintaining this hardware. Instead, you can ‘rent’ these resources through a Managed IT Services provider, which can be much more cost-effective over the traditional model.
Examples include:
- Virtual Desktops, or Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)
- Virtual Servers, or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Cloud based software, or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Vendor Cloud Platform through a managed service provider
3. Outsource IT tasks
Outsource routine tasks that take time away from highly qualified technical resources so their focus can be on higher complicated technical projects and needs. Generally, outsourcing provides an overall cost savings purely due to the economies-of-scale, as these service providers can handle a larger workload with fewer staff. A common first step is outsourcing helpdesk who take the load of initial calls/tickets to free up pressure on the higher skilled technical resources. Additionally, the opposite may provide value based off business needs to outsource the highly qualified technical resources due to resource costs of higher skillset staff.
Examples include:
- Helpdesk Services
- Patching and Maintenance Services
- Network Operations Center (NOC)
- Advanced Technical Services (Security Engineer, Backup Engineer, Network Engineer, Technical Lead, etc.)
- After-hours services, 24×7 monitoring services
4. Automate routine processes
Automating routine processes can help you reduce the need for manual labor and cut costs associated with labor-intensive processes. For example, automating your IT management tasks can help you manage your infrastructure more efficiently and with fewer personnel.
Examples include:
- Automating windows patch management
- Monitoring assets & triggering scripts for automated resolution
5. Leverage IT asset management software
IT asset management software can help you better track your IT assets, ensuring that you are only paying for what you need. This can help you reduce unnecessary spending and optimize your IT budget over time.
Conclusion
IT cost optimization requires a combination of technology and strategy. By leveraging assessments, the power of cloud computing, outsourcing IT tasks, automating routine processes, and leveraging IT asset management software, you can optimize your IT costs and get the most out of your IT budget. With these strategies in mind, you can stay competitive and continue to drive growth for your organization.
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