We know planning your IT budget can get a little tricky. Luckily, the Monkeys are pretty good with cutting technology costs. It’s important to remember your IT budget doesn’t just include hardware but also software and services. Here’s 7 tips we’ve come up with to help you reduce your IT budget with software.
- Measure your current IT expenditures.
This step is easy: see what you’re currently spending on software. You may find you’re spending extra money on software that you could be using elsewhere. You could also be spending a good amount of your budget on overlapping licensing when you could easily cut back to one license and still get the job done. You may even be spending too much on hardware where it may be cheaper to use software. - Protect against viruses, malware, and hackers.
Be sure to invest in good software protection or all your hard work will be for naught. You don’t want hackers or Trojans to steal your customers’ data or even employee/company data. Antivirus software locates and deletes computer viruses. If you want to cut costs even more, there are free antivirus tools as well. - Use virtual communication services.
Instead of investing in a landline service, try a software service like Hipchat, Skype, or Google Voice. Employees can communicate via Internet based services around the office, or even out of office, for free. This is a quick way to cut IT budget costs. You can also have employees use personal cell phones to contact customers or other companies and offer to pay a percentage of their bill. - Try virtualization software.
Virtualization software, like VMware, Hyper-V, or Virtual Box, is a really good way of repurposing existing (new or refurbished) hardware- and get the most out of it. Virtualization software allows a single host computer to create and run more virtual environments; it allows a guest operating system to run. - Try open sourced software.
Instead of buying licensed software, try opting for open sourced software. It doesn’t require you to spend any money, and it’s constantly updated. You can find open source software for almost any of your company’s needs. If you feel uncomfortable with the idea of open sourced software, try using one application and grow from there once you build your comfort level. You might already be using an open sourced software without even realizing it, like Firefox. - Try the cloud.
By hosting all your files on the cloud, not only can you access them from anywhere, you can also boost collaboration without increasing software costs. Your information will be consolidated in one place for all employees to access. The cloud will use less of your electricity and have zero capital costs. Our favorite reason to choose the cloud is climate change. One, you’ll save energy and two, you’ll reduce your carbon footprint. - Planning, Budgeting, Revenue Planning, and Forecasting Software
When all else fails, try a planning and budgeting software. This can help reduce your company’s budgeting cycle and reduce errors to improve accuracy. Your company will have access to faster and more-informed business decisions.
Have any other ideas to reduce your IT budget with software? Let us know in the comments below!
