A lot of business owners automatically think added IT programs, softwares, or systems cost too much money, money they don’t have. But did you know that leveraging your IT can actually save your business a lot of money over time if it’s done correctly?
You don’t necessarily have to get caught up in buying the “latest and greatest” or most expensive tools out there. That doesn’t always make the most sense for a business. That’s why choosing an experienced and trusted IT partner that can assess your system for ineffectiveness or inefficiencies that could be costing you money can make a world of difference as far as ongoing business costs.
In fact, a recent Gartner study states that, “27 percent of 473 CEO and senior business executives cited “technology enablement” as a cost-control method,” and implementing new technologies to help automate processes, such as Office 365 are a great way to do that.
Here are some key areas where leveraging IT can save you money:
1. Making The Most Of The Technology You Already Have
We mentioned not getting caught up in buying the newest, shiniest technology, but that’s not it. Sometimes, if things are running poorly or slowly, business owners can jump the gun in thinking they need to buy completely new products. However, correcting inefficiencies and looking for updates to current systems/products should always come before buying new.
There are tons of examples of this but a common example is— a lot of people assume you need to buy brand new servers when simple updates can fix the issues. A trusted IT partner can help assess what technology you already have and see where it does and doesn’t make sense to spend money.
Another example is computers. It’s important to know when to update your operating system or fix current computers and when to spend money buying new ones. Also, sometimes it can make a lot of financial sense to have your employees use their own computers instead of providing them. But depending on your field, it may also make more sense to spend the initial cost to provide your employees with company computers. This is mainly because there is a chance that computers and other devices brought in by employees can affect costs by introducing viruses and other malware to the network. An experienced IT partner will help you by knowing exactly what can positively and negatively affect your company and cause unwanted costs as it pertains to employee computers in the long run.
2. Boost Employee Productivity
It’s important to do a traffic analysis to see where network bandwidth is being used before you upgrade to an increased bandwidth. Implementing simple firewalls can save money by blocking certain non-essential and known-time-waster websites from being visited and therefore, wasting company time. That easily increases productivity by not only making your employees more efficient, but also saving bandwidth for work essential tasks. An IT partner can also assess problems with traffic design or traffic saturation to save your company precious time and resources.
3. Implementing New Technologies To Help Automate Processes
Automation is a very cost effective way to boost productivity and free up time to grow your business.
Automation doesn’t just save time; it also increases overall customer service and efficiency. Setting up automated reply to contact form submissions on your website, thank you emails to clients, invoicing and payment reminders, data backup, and even payroll are some small things that add to a lot of time (and money) saved over time.
4. Dedicated Leased Fiber Optic
There are several different types of internet service that can vary in cost and benefit. The most common type of internet connection is on a shared network and can be slowed down if you’re in a congested area with a lot of internet users, even ones outside of your business. A dedicated fiber leased optic is another option. It is a connection dedicated just for your business and it won’t be slowed down based on everyone around you, ensuring consistent speeds regardless of neighbors’ activity. While it can be an initially higher cost, it can save money through overall reliability which affects company efficiency, productivity, and even client retention. If your internet speed consistently negatively affects your clients, that can lead to loss of clients and ultimately loss of income.
Conclusion
We’ve all heard the phrase, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” It’s often times true, but sometimes it may not be in the way that you think. Having the initial expense of a trusted and experienced IT partner could save you a lot more money over time than you think! Contact us today with any additional questions you may have.
