In 2023 it feels like the cost of everything is skyrocketing, from eggs being $10 for a dozen, to the price of a used car being up 61% compared to 2019.
Consumers and business owners alike are scrambling to cut costs where they can, and as a business owner you may be tempted to target your technology spending.
While technology spending is usually a tiny fraction of the overall cost of running a business (4-6% annually is the average), it’s still a commonly targeted sector. This is usually because it’s one of the least visible items business owners spend money on. While tangible products your business needs day to day are more obvious, a good bit of the money spent on technology in a business is for prevention or maintenance.
Whether it be software upgrades, new peripherals that function behind the scenes, or money spent on cybersecurity efforts, these are purchases you may not see the obvious immediate benefit from especially if you’re not tech savvy.
These “invisible” costs occur and leave business owners wondering, do I really need this service or product?
The answer is a resounding yes, for the most part. While money spent on preventative measures is often a tough pill to swallow, the money you would have to spend recovering from something that could have been prevented will be even tougher (and costlier).
However, there are some areas of technology spending that are worth taking a look at. We have found that many business owners who utilize our services are already paying for redundant IT services, they just didn’t know it.
Another example is we have had many clients that sign up with Valley Techlogic, and upon reviewing their internet bill or phone bill we find that they’re drastically overpaying.
Here are the five ways we suggest cutting your IT spending in 2023:
- The first one is touched on above, check your internet bill. As with consumer internet services there are often specials that can be taken advantage of to reduce your overall cost, but if your internet service costs have ballooned out of control it might be time to look for a new provider.
- The same is true for your phone service, especially if you’re still using landline phones. Switching to a VoIP service could save your business a substantial amount, but if you’re not ready for that yet you can also just see if all of the lines you’re paying for are being used. We’ve found during customer audits they often have phone lines that ring to nowhere and can be safely disconnected.
- Another thing you can do is look for redundant services, if you have several programs aimed at cybersecurity they may have overlapping services – allowing you to cancel the one with the least features. Also, if you’re a Microsoft 365 customer you could consider switching your users to Premium to take advantage of the security features provided by Microsoft directly (at an often greatly reduced cost to stand alone products).
- Consider whether virtualization will reduce your hardware costs. There’s a lot of talk about “moving to the cloud”, but for many business owners that’s a nebulous topic. To put it in a nutshell, there is a significant upfront cost to moving your business’s data to the cloud, but you will reap the reward on the backend from reduced infrastructure costs.
- Finally, consider whether it makes sense to hiring internally or outsource your IT help. For larger businesses hiring IT staff can make sense to handle the load of their business, but for medium to small businesses hiring a dedicated person is often much more expensive then having a technology service plan through a provider like us. Even for larger businesses, having a technology service plan from a provider can make more sense than continuously hiring additional staff to address an additional need for help.
If you need help reviewing your IT spending to find out whether it’s in line, or whether a service plan through us can help you address this topic and many more – schedule a consultation with us today.
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This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.
