Cutting costs is critical, especially if your company has been overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.
IT costs tend to eat up large chunks of your budget, which is why cutting is imperative. These costs range from the cost of personnel to the maintenance of networks and systems.
But, while maintaining high costs can be unsustainable with new workforce adaptations, such as remote working, cutting these costs without a strategy can also be detrimental. It’s important to evaluate particular aspects of your new business operations to understand where you can best cut costs without damaging your company.
Here are 5 tips on how to cut IT costs while maintaining system security and efficiency.
Re-Evaluate Software Subscriptions
With all the recent changes in digital transformation and remote working, it is highly likely that unnecessary software subscriptions are syphoning unnecessary IT costs from your budget. Business software can be expensive, so reevaluating them based on your current needs as a remote or hybrid team is critical.
A good idea would be to consolidate programs you do want to keep into one all-inclusive platform. One solution is to take advantage of Office 365, which comes with a top-of-the-range set of productivity tools in one package that facilitates communication and keeps all of your applications on one platform.
Consider Software Alternatives
While keeping your existing software may seem necessary, there are several alternatives that can be much more cost effective. One example is custom software that is built to your unique business needs.
Custom software eliminates the need to pay for extra features you won’t use. Instead, it is built around your specific processes to automate operations and streamline communication between teams and customers. The features are fully customizable, meaning you’ll only pay for what you actually use.
Review Per-User Agreements
The pay-per-user model is costly and might be unnecessary if your team is working remotely. If your team has recently shrunk or staff have changed roles during the pandemic, renegotiate per-user agreements to better match the needs of your remote team.
You should also review your per-user agreement if you have let go of employees recently. Oftentimes, businesses fail to end subscriptions for users who are no longer with the company, which leads to a high, unnecessary expense that can easily be eliminated.
Invest in Telecommunication Solutions
If your teams are operating remotely, it’s critical to have secure telecommunication solutions that can keep your team connected with each other and with clients at all times. A highly cost-effective solution is to switch from a traditional PBX phone system to a VoIP phone system, which offers higher reliability at lower costs.
Not only are traditional PBX phones expensive to maintain service for, especially if you frequently make international calls, they are also impractical for remote teams since they require on-site wiring. SIP trunking and VoIP phones offer secure telecommunication services at a fraction of the cost and don’t require on-site wiring or hardware.
These solutions both operate via a secure Internet connection to make calls, send voicemails and even video chat. These telecom services offer advanced phone features and a better HD-quality voice at a much lower cost than traditional phone systems.
Outsource Your IT
Investing in managed IT services rather than an in-house IT team is another great way to cut costs. They offer cost-effective, price-bundled services at the cost of about as much as one salaried employee. With managed IT services, you get a pool of professionals with different IT capabilities without funding an entire team yourself. You also avoid incurring expensive onboarding and training costs.
Managed IT services work around the clock to ensure your company’s systems operate optimally. With this kind of continual service, they are able to detect and patch inefficiencies in your systems immediately, reducing overall downtime and its associated costs. This also helps you avoid costly security incidents, which can damage your company in the way of data loss and lost customer loyalty.
The Bottom Line for Protecting Your Bottom Line
f you want to cut IT costs without risking security, consider these strategic tips for managing your budget. Restructuring your IT department around these strategies will ease the burden on your company’s budgets and still allow you to maintain the productivity levels you had prior to the pandemic.
For more information on how AxiaTP can revolutionize your IT department and help you cut costs, contact us today.