Three Ways to Conserve on Your IT Budget

                Times are tough and money is tight. The recession has hit everybody hard, and if you’re a business owner, you know that fact very well. Saving money is a necessary part of any business, and you’ve probably been trimming the budget a little more than you’d like to over the past few years. But you’ve gotten by, so congratulations! Making it through the recession isn’t as simple as just wreathing a single storm – and budgeting doesn’t stop at the end of a fiscal year. As we all know, technology can be one of the most expensive overhead costs when it comes to owning and operating a business. Trimming up the IT budget can be an effective way to increase your profit margin, but how should you go about this? Here are three simple steps you can take to ensure your business’s IT sector is running efficiently and at relatively low costs.

Host From Your Own Server

If you have a website or are currently paying a third party service to store business information, then you may need to consider getting your own server. The advantages are two-fold. First, a privately owned server can be used to host your website, onsite. This allows for increased manageability of your website and provides you more security in knowing that your presence on the web is solely in your hands. Second, a privately owned server lets you and your employees share data, send emails, and collaborate on projects all in one central and easily accessible location. While a server can be a large initial investment, paying a hosting service means your business is hemorrhaging money slowly.

Hire Interdisciplinary

When you’re looking to hire new employees, give a strong consideration to employees with experience or education in the field of IT, even if they are being hired in an unrelated field. Multi-tasking is an important part of any position, and being able to work across multiple disciplines only further demonstrates an employee’s commitment to making themselves a marketable candidate. The more IT problems you can resolve in-house the better; third party consultations and tech house-calls can be very expensive.

Computer Quantity Purchases

If you’re expecting to have several computers in your office, there is no need to go out and individually purchase the most powerful and expensive computers on the market. Oftentimes, basic configurations will provide nicely for most business applications. Our office is currently stocked with HP DC7600 desktop computers. Though these computers are somewhat dated, they serve nicely for the word processing, emailing, and product-tracking we do. The best part, of course, is the affordability. Refurbished, we purchased these models for $90 per unit. You can save money on computers by buying in bulk.

Your IT budget need not be a lead weight tied around your neck. There are many affordable solutions on the market today, and by following the three tips above, you will be well on your way toward securing your business’s financial security. With frugality and proper research, your technology will be a cost-effective asset in your business.