Saturday, November 6, 2010

As companies reduce IT costs.

Cost containment has become a watchword in IT environments because of the perceived conflict between the IT staff (who are often seen as a cost center to be checked) - and the financial officers and executive IT people see as an obstacle to improving IT skills.
The truth, however, lies somewhere in between: while the conflicts on costs and cash outflows occur, some common sense approaches to this issue can help solve problems and improve the bottom line of society, without affecting its efficiency and effectiveness. The following are some strategies for improved IT cost containment.
Find ways to improve and standardize procedures. There was a time when the pace of technological change was so fast that personal computers have been updated once or twice a year. This led many companies to resort to the development of processes and procedures on the fly. "
The pace of technology is apparently slowing, the changes that are happening are - broadly - 'improvements' to existing systems (eg wireless networks that replaces 'wired' networks). This is an opportunity for companies to slow down and establish more efficient procedures.
Be open to new technologies. A field of new technologies is virtualization software, which helps the server to do more tasks than originally planned. An expert in IT infrastructure you can use virtualization software to run eight cars outside a single server. For e-commerce company with 400 people, this may mean keeping the same people, but working out only 40 cars. It is true that the total cost savings are not that high savings due to virtualization are about 30-40%, but for larger companies, this can result in a significant amount.
On the other hand, it should be 'virtual' will also require expenditure, particularly for more powerful servers and increased network costs, but the long-term savings is worth it.
Be opportunistic. Options to reduce costs are not limited to new technologies and new management practices - it is also a mindset focused exercise and a healthy feedback to identify opportunities that arise.
Contract renewals are one such area of opportunity - especially for large enterprises with heavy IT requirements. Leveraging on these supply needs can translate into significant cost savings, if managed properly.
Moving into a new building is another. Rather than 'wiring' the building to use that network, wireless technology can be brought in. Before you say that this is a case for using new technologies, it should be noted that the transition from wired to wireless technology eliminates the cost of hiring people to drill and wire rope all over the place - not to mention the money saved from the distribution with wires and cables.
Involve IT staff in budget planning and establishing financial goals. Critics assume that IT managers and people have their heads in the clouds and rarely bothered to explain the objectives and concerns of the financial cost to them. What is overlooked is the fact that all people - like others - are concerned about the financial health of their businesses because their income and lifestyle depends on the business doing well.
Switching to SaaS instead of deploying traditional software is another company can reduce cost dramatically. SaaS required minimal implementation & maintenance cost gives you flexibility in managing your IT budget. Learn more about how SaaS should reduce your IT Budget.
If you are in Sales department, you may want to check out a SaaS Sales Tracking Software that might suite your need.
Article Source: Kenny Blog

No comments:

Post a Comment