11 Tips to reduce cost in IT

11 Tips to reduce cost in IT

Judicious use of information technology can play an important role in improving business functioning. But its complexity or ill-advised usage can hinder with progress, adding up costs and reducing effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Over the last few years, economic uncertainties have prompted people to seriously consider control costs in business operations and improve the flexibility in cost reduction, while adjusting itself to changing conditions. Companies have begun to restructure their systems to accommodate the rising costs in IT and make use of other technologies that would help in the reduction of IT usage. If you feel as if your business could do with controlled usage of IT then here are certain tips for the same.

1) Capitalize on new technologies

You can make use of new technologies like cloud computing and personalization of devices/applications. The power of personalization can not only cut costs, but maintain customer relations as well. This is especially true in the medical field. This would help them achieve cost-effective management approaches, while at the same time perform a strategic analysis of systems landscape.

2) Make use of the Cloud services

Cloud computing can help with reduced, complicated use of confusing softwares and their licensing costs. You will no longer have to buy such softwares and worry about their expiry because you have cloud now. And you no longer have to depend on software professionals for software installation and education. Cloud computing boasts of unlimited scalability, reliability and availability, so you can move your project there and maintain the IT infrastructure, enabling this technology to become the ‘raging convention’ in business.

3) Improve the purchasing process of IT resources

Sometimes businesses upgrade their technologies and softwares when it is really not needed and many of the new features in the upgrades are left unused. It is always advisable to seek the advice of an IT consultant before spending money on new softwares, or else you would keep spending money each year for what you already have.

4) Try integration of a combination of offerings

When IT driven innovation makes its pronounced mark in different fields, you can actually merge several of these offerings and make combined usage, even if they are from different vendors. You can make scalability possible if you merge both private and public cloud IT resources. You can do this by developing an integration strategy that would identify specific work flow and data management requirements of businesses.

5) Encourage each department to have a written agenda when it comes to software purchase combination of offerings

As mentioned earlier, businesses can cut IT costs if they do not upgrade their softwares all the time. So it is advisable to have standard configurations so there is no need to buy hardware, services and softwares unnecessary. Let all the departments have a written agenda about their current situation and what they want more.

6) Create webcasts to avoid repetitive information sessions

If your business has to cover the same information several times over and explain the same thing to different audiences, then creating a webcast would save resources. Create a nice script and shoot the webcast, while posting the same on your website.

7) Renegotiate, or better switch

Local cable TV providers and internet service providers have the annoying habit of hiking their prices without any logical explanation. Rather than burden your budget by going with the hike, you can negotiate with the providers or better, switch to other service providers that would suit your budget. Though the switch may be a bit tough because you may have to spend money on more infrastructure, you really have to weigh the pros and cons of remaining and switching before you make the final decision.

8) Spend money on training end-users as welliate, or better switch

This is something that happens in most companies. They spend thousands of dollars for buying a new software/equipment, but they do not train their staff to use them optimally. Once a new software is bought, you must leverage it by providing adequate training services to users. Or else, the staff would turn back to the old softwares because they are more familiar with that.

9) Indulge in server visualization

Businesses have started incorporating the technique of server visualization because it brings them tremendous business benefits, including increased productivity. New servers have faster provisioning times enabling quick accessibility of resources. With server visualization, it is possible to utilize the hardware assets and computing power to its maximum capacity, leading to cost savings. Meanwhile, if you have any standalone servers, try converting them as well. When you are using virtual servers instead of standalone servers, you can save thousands of dollars in utility bills as well. This is a sustainable solution, with the added benefit of improving information in the future.

10) Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

With SOA, businesses can enjoy organizational flexibility, accompanied by improved information flow and the ability to reduce management costs, with the additional advantage of configuration flexibility. Through this method of building business applications, you can utilize a common service to perform business functions.

11) Changing the replacement cycle

You can also consider changing the replacement cycle of computers and laptop computers used by your employees. Instead of changing them at the current cycle (for example, every 4 years), why don’t you consider changing it every 5 years? An extra year in the cycle might not look much, but ask your finance department to work on the costs; the amount you can save is tremendous.

Interesting links about the topic:
How to reduce cost in Business
Some ideas to cut cost in IT Business

Pictures: Flickr.com/ Images Money/ Cornock/ Free Press

The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.