How often does your IT budget become a major deciding factor when planning your business’s technology ventures? Chances are that it clings to you like a ball and chain. Wouldn’t it be nice to free yourself from something so limiting? We’ve compiled four ways to help take some strain off your IT budget. Keep reading to learn some budgeting tips courtesy of our team:
1. Build an IT Road Map
If you’re purchasing new hardware or software solutions on a day-by-day basis rather than planning ahead, you might be in for a not-so-fun surprise when a server failure or an unexpected workstation power-down leaves you with little choice but to invest in new systems. In addition, if your budget hasn’t taken these new devices into account, you could be in danger of overspending on IT resources.
This is why creating an IT road map is so important. Through this process, you get to sit down with a trusted network administrator or IT professional and map out the next one, five, or even ten years concerning your organization’s technology assets. This is an opportune time to schedule hardware and software refreshes so your technology never falls behind. Remember: your budget should always be flexible enough to adapt to rapid changes in operations.
2. Consider Migrating to the Cloud
While many amazing benefits come with cloud-based solutions, we’re happy to report that a major one is cost savings. If you’re currently housing servers internally, you know how expensive it is to maintain them. The great thing about cloud-based services is that all costs are included with a cloud platform.
This means that the hardware, software, and services are all customized in your plan! Say goodbye to the days of paying for and maintaining expensive equipment! With less focus on service interruptions, your IT team will have more time to focus on greater goals and projects. You’ll be thrilled to see how reducing the amount of hardware you keep on-premises can help reduce costs and increase productivity.
3. Minimize Downtime
Downtime is a significant contender for disruption in an office environment. If your business isn’t operating as intended, it can significantly affect your budget. In many cases, downtime occurs when your technology isn’t working properly. That’s why eliminating downtime is a top priority if you want to ensure your IT budget isn’t wasted.
At Exact IT, we help businesses resolve this issue with advanced backup and disaster recovery solutions. BDR works by providing near-instantaneous access to your data backups, allowing your business to experience minimal downtime in the event of a disaster (like a fire or electrical storm.) The less time you spend getting back in action following a disaster, the more time you spend being productive.
4. Outsource, Outsource, Outsource!
We know what you might be thinking: “Why pay someone else to do the work when I can just do it myself?” Many business owners believe they can save money on IT expenses by devoting their time and energy to learning about technology solutions and how to manage them on their own. And while this might make sense on paper, it’s important to remember that IT management and maintenance aren’t always simple, DIY tasks.
That’s why we highly recommend that small- and medium-sized businesses consider outsourcing. It helps you onboard professional technicians who understand your needs without having to add new salaries to your budget. All you pay is a monthly rate as per your service level agreement. It’s best practice to outsource as much of your IT as possible since you can remove IT as a capital expense and add it to your operational costs.
Optimize Your IT Budget With Exact IT!
When you partner with a managed services provider (MSP), you can reduce the time and money spent troubleshooting issues beyond your internal team’s capabilities. This way, your organization can focus on projects that drive your operations forward instead of having to respond to IT problems.
Our comprehensive suite of proactive and innovative technology solutions at Exact IT Consulting can help you make strategic, long-term IT decisions.
