Certain areas of a business are more costly than others. Each section should have its own budget – for instance, you need a marketing budget, sales budget, etc.
Today, we’re talking about one of the most demanding budgets you’ll have – your IT budget. With increased demands on technology in the business world, it’s becoming harder than ever to manage this budget. Companies are overspending on IT, but this doesn’t need to be the case. Here are some helpful tips that’ll reduce your IT budget right this second:
Use outsourced IT services
Nobody likes the thought of letting staff go or not hiring people to come and be on a physical team.
However, outsourced IT services are simply the most cost-effective approach for modern business. You pay for the services you need and a team handles them off-site. It completely negates the cost of IT employees, such as holidays, sick pay, bonuses and other employment perks.
You save money, yet the quality of our IT services doesn’t decrease. If anything, it can improve as there are many upsides to outsourcing.
Migrate to the cloud
Cloud migration can help you save money in a few little areas. The ability to use cloud-based software may prevent you from spending lots of money on physical hardware packages.
Nevertheless, the main reason for cloud migration is to use something called network as a service (NaaS). This is a cloud-based solution that lets you manage your IT network without needing a physical infrastructure in place. Instead of building a network on-site (which costs loads of money to do and maintain) you can handle everything in the cloud.
It sounds complex, but it’s very easy to deal with once everything is up and running. Plus, you only have to pay for the network features and capabilities you need. This slashes your budget while leaving plenty of room for scaling in the future.
Audit your software stack
A software stack refers to the business software you’re using and paying for every day. The majority of this is not free, though some do come with free licenses or versions.
Auditing your software stack lets you see all of the applications you’re using, plus the ones you’re paying for. At the same time, you see how much you’re getting out of them. Are you spending money on a business licence when the free version is just as effective? More importantly, are you wasting cash on the software you simply don’t use?
You see, a lot of software solutions can have features that cross over to one another. For instance, you initially use an email marketing platform, and then you purchase a wider digital marketing solution. The second solution includes all the email marketing features, plus more. As such, you’re wasting money having the two of them as the first platform is pretty much redundant. Run audits every year to stay on top of things and ensure you aren’t spending money on pointless software apps.
In just three steps, you’ll reduce your IT budget and free up cash in your business. The best thing is, these ideas won’t mean the standard of work drops. So, you get the best of both worlds.