Cutting IT Costs in Your Small Business

IT budgets continue to rise dramatically. This spending rose 19% from $162,000 in the first half of 2013 to $192,000 in the second half of 2012. Since these cost increases are, in many cases, outpacing revenue growth, companies are looking at ways to curb these increases without sacrificing the much-needed functionality of IT departments.

Hardware accounts for the largest portion of IT budgets at 39% of total spending, while software takes 30%. IT services and cloud services make up the rest of the budget with 19% and 12% respectively. Hardware is the biggest expenditure in IT budgets, but it is also perhaps the biggest opportunity for savings.
Here are a few ways you may be able to save money:

Ways to Cut Costs

Server virtualization — By implementing server virtualization, multiple application and operating system pairs can be run on the same physical system. This can dramatically reduce the number of servers that need to be owned, cutting costs for hardware, space, and electrical usage.

Consolidation — Hardware consolidation is another way to reduce physical machines needed. Integrated solutions like Dell’s PowerEdge VRTX server can easily, seamlessly be integrated into your existing infrastructure.

Automation — The use of server and desktop automation increases efficiency in a couple ways. By automating responses to events, response time is reduced and less IT staff time is spent putting out fires.

Cloud services — Cloud services work well with virtualization and can make your system even more flexible by eliminating the need for physical servers. Moving to cloud services can also aid in disaster recovery efforts as your system has less of a centralized physical presence to be effected.

Modernizing hardware — Modernizing your hardware can help increase machine and employee efficiency, and new processors can boost performance significantly. The latest Intel® Xeon® processors have been shown to increase performance by up to 585% and decrease idle power consumption by 66% for example.

Restrained Growth

IT budgets continue to grow because businesses understand how important technology is to an effective, efficient operation. But if your IT infrastructure is simply piling old technology on top of old technology, then you are falling behind in cost and capability. The latest technologies can cut costs while improving performance, security, and keep your IT department agile and ready for whatever changes may occur.

What do you do to get more from your IT budget? Share in the comments below.

Matt Smith works for Dell and enjoys learning and writing about technology. When not working, he enjoys entrepreneurship, being with his family, and the outdoors.