How to Save Time and Money in Your IT Department
The way IT revolution has shaped the world around us is simply unprecedented. Today, a whole wide range of businesses are utilizing IT to bring efficiency, streamline processes, and achieve competitiveness. In this article Smith Wallas looks at some simple steps you can implement to reduce your I.T budget
The way IT revolution has shaped the world around us is simply unprecedented. Today, a whole wide range of businesses are utilizing IT to bring efficiency, streamline processes, and achieve competitiveness. Thus, IT touches virtually every aspect of a business and its dealings.
However, it is equally true that the amount of time, money and resources spent on ongoing IT maintenance and management could affect the overall growth of an organization. The idea, therefore, is the more an organization can reduce maintenance and management costs, the more money it will have available for new project development and new initiatives.
As a matter of fact, IT costs prove a crucial component of any organization’s budget. Cutting these costs can sometimes be very difficult considering there are so many priorities and processes that make costs seem like they are fixed.
According to a survey conducted by CIO Magazine, smaller businesses spend about 6.9% of their revenue on IT infrastructure costs, which is above the recommended 4-6% range. The figure for medium companies is 4.1%, while for larger businesses, it is 3.2%.
A recent forecast by Gartner shows that the global IT spending will reach $3.7 trillion in 2018. In light of this, businesses should use specific strategies to reduce IT expenses by 10% in 12 months and 25% in three years.
So what IT cost optimization tactics and success strategies you are going to deploy in your company?
Here are some profound time and cost effective strategies for you:
Choose the most effective cloud-based services
Today, a significant number of organizations are adopting cloud services to achieve cost savings, flexibility and scalability of IT infrastructure. However, managing the overall environment is not as easy as it seems. It may involve complexities like management and cost evaluation for multiple services running across multiple cloud platforms. Considering these factors, there are many tools available to deal with these challenges and help you facilitate efficient operation of applications and services in the cloud.
One such tool that can be highly effective for cost and money management of IT infrastructure is Cloud Management Suite (CMS). CMS is a cloud-based IT management software solution that manages all devices inside or outside the network without the need to deploy agents. It helps you manage your environment from anywhere and any device from the browser as long as you have the Wi-Fi.
The unique features of CMS are:
Patch Management
- Targets and automatically deploys required patches to endpoints, ensuring compliance with PCI/HIPPA requirements, while protecting every endpoint inside the network.
- Easily produces reports for management showing patch coverage.
- Keeps desktops, laptops and remote users up-to-date with the latest Microsoft and third-party software updates and security patches- before you even know there is a problem.
Software Distribution
- Distributes new software packages to one or many endpoints automatically.
- The unique technology minimizes network bandwidth even when deploying large applications to thousands of endpoints from the cloud.
- No need for IT to visit each endpoint and complete manual, time-consuming installations.
- Great tool for distributed organizations with remote sites.
- Hassle-free Software Distribution from the cloud with an interactive wizard guide.
- Performs automatic software deployment anywhere with a single click.
Reports & Dashboards
- Advanced and user-friendly reports give you the information you need easily, without learning complex reporting software.
- Business-level reporting and dashboards help it track assets.
Implement a higher level of automation
The primary benefits of automation are cost reduction, productivity, availability, reliability and performance. The greatest opportunity provided by operations automation is to increase service to customers while systematically reducing costs. Automated systems allow you to monitor your processes in real time and identify problems as they arrive, enabling quick adjustments along the way. According to a study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute, an estimated 60% of businesses have the potential for the automation of at least 30% of their activities.
Automation profoundly reduces processing time while compiling analytical data; it does so by crunching numbers faster and improving accuracy. Automation is extremely helpful in functions like hiring and on boarding employees using more advanced automation tools. There are various other uses of automation at workplace, for example, employee time tracking system that can help maintaining productivity of your employees. This significant elimination of time-consuming efforts using automation can free up employees so that they can focus more on strategic job functions.
Use a software-defined data center
A software-defined data center (SDDC) refers to an advanced virtualization of processes in an organization that can considerably lower operational costs related to information technology systems. It is being estimated that three-fourths of Global 2000 enterprises that utilize clouds and DevOps tactics would need SDDCs by 2020. Typically, a software-defined data center pools together networking, storage, computing, telecommunications, and other IT functions. This allows businesses to eliminate the need for extra space during high demand phases. It also minimizes the need for employees to spend as much time or money maintaining the systems.
Use tech tools to save money and time
There are many effective tools at your disposal to make significant IT cost reductions. For example –
Webydo
Webydo is an online professional website creation platform that provides designers with a blank canvas upon which they can bring their visions to life. The tool then translates their designs into code. Designers who seek to start their own agency can use the platform to create and manage as many client websites as they wish and even bill them through the platform.
Microsoft Office 365
It is an all-encompassing collaboration tool that saves time, money and sanity. Employees will be able to more easily collaborate, communicate, and share because all their tools will be on one platform—improving search capabilities and eliminating the need to switch between various programs. MS Office 365 has the ability to quickly access information and communicate seamlessly from anywhere using any document. With features like MS SharePoint, your organization’s files can be stored and shared securely and at any time. Platforms like Office 365 have the benefit of offering a single contract instead of having to deal with multiple vendors. This usually results in a much lower overall price than adding together services from multiple best-of-breed solutions.
Viber
Viber is one of top players in free messages and VoIP with more than 400 million users. It has incredible cross-platform options. In addition to the big ecosystems–PC, Mac, Android, iOS–Viber is also available on several additional platforms, including Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Bada, and Nokia. It can also transfer calls between mobile and desktop versions.
Implement DevOps and Agile practices
DevOps and Agile practices are essentially used to break down organizational structures between software developers and IT operation personnel. These are collaborative practices that focus on faster time-to-market, lower failure rates, rapid updates & fixes, and quicker recovery from system issues. They improve application and service delivery rather than managing servers, switches and firewalls etc. Furthermore, Agile is one of the most flexible project management models in use today. It essentially accepts that change is one of the major risks that need to be dealt with in projects. The change means a change in requirement, change in timeline, change in budget, or any such factor which decides the project’s success.
Conclusion
The information technology time and cost optimization is an important aspect for any organization to grow and succeed. The above mentioned strategies and tools will surely give you a competitive edge with efficient budgeting techniques. So go ahead revitalize your financial plan and significantly reduce IT infrastructure costs.