1. Outsourcing
Small and medium sized companies with in-house IT staff find that they can save up to 50% of individual staff expenses by outsourcing their job role to IT support companies. Not only can outsourcing save on the overall costs, it can provide a more expert service, with a guaranteed service level. If an IT staff member is sick or on leave, it’s difficult to replace them, but by outsourcing your IT to an IT company you can ensure there will always be cover.
2. Charity donation programs
If your organisation is a UK registered charity or a charitable housing association, you are eligible to use a program called the ‘charity technology exchange’, who can offer up tp 96% cost savings on IT software and hardware. The CTX has partners such as Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec and offers a large product catalogue on its website. More information and registration details can be found on their website: www.ctxchange.org.
3. IT Grants
The government regularly offers IT spending grants to private companies that provide services to the community. A ‘Get Connected’ grant was offered to children’s nurseries last year and earlier this year we saw funding offered to care homes across the UK. Grant funding eligibly can be found on the www.governmentfunding.org.uk and the www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk websites.
4. Extended subscriptions on software packages
Good IT service providers should explain to you that money can be saved when investing in software package subscriptions. Most anti-virus and security software vendors will offer up to 30% saving if you invest in a 2, 3 or 5 year subscription.
5. Free trial and software downloads
Most reliable software vendors offer a full version trial with free download of their products. These trials prove the software can do ‘what it says on the tin’ and offer you the ability to check its compatibility with other software and hardware in your IT environment. We have seen companies lose money from purchasing software before trialling it first.
6. The 3 quote system
It really does pay to use the 3 quote system; we have seen quotes for the same IT project range from £500 to £5000. As with any service, obtaining 3 quotes can give you a good sense of middle ground – the most expensive is not necessary the best, however the cheapest might mean you’re not going to recieve the service you’re looking for. It’s best not just to compare prices, but also service level agreements.
7. Regular proactive IT maintenance
Ask any experienced IT service company and they will agree that performing regular IT maintenance procedures reduces IT problems and improves system performance. This type of proactive care also ensures a greater life expectancy of computer systems. We have seen clients move to us from providers that never offered regular maintenance and where they were constantly having system performance issues. Within a few weeks they were saving on support calls and benefiting from the optimal performance of their computer systems.
8. Staff training
Having basic IT staff training can save a company time and money. We recently spent 3 hours training a client’s 20 staff and were told by one their directors that the cost of these 3 hours has already paid for itself several times over. Staff are now able to resolve minor issues for themselves and use their line of business applications in a way that improves productivity, and increases revenue.
9. Smaller IT service providers can save you money and offer a better service
Not only can money be saved by using a smaller IT service company but you’ll often obtain a better level of customer service. Smaller IT companies are built up of a team of experienced and qualified engineers that you will speak to regularly. Bigger IT service providers usually have many front line engineers, some with little experience, and it’s unlikely you will speak with the same engineer on an ongoing basis. Using a smaller IT provider helps to ensure you receive a high level of service and also ensures that a specific engineer, who you can speak to directly, takes ownership of your IT issues and is accountable for having them resolved quickly.
10. Get it right from the start
IT can save your company money by streamlining and simplifying your staff’s productivity but unless your IT systems are installed and configured correctly from the start, the problems caused by a misconfigured system can cost fortunes in downtime and engineer repairs bills.
We advise using an IT service company with qualified staff. Just as plumbers and electricians are qualified in their trade, so too are computer and networking engineers. Look out for the Microsoft certifications; MCSE, MCSA, MCTS and MCITP as well as the Cisco certifications CCNA and CCIE. If a company boasts engineers with any of these qualifications, get them to prove it by showing their certification. Employing engineers that have any of these qualifications will ensure the work is carried out to the industries best practise approach and save your business unnecessary IT expenses in the long term
