Revamp Your IT for Serious Savings
With just a few tweaks, you can save a bundle on IT costs.
Still buying cheap coffee to cut costs? That’ll leave you with some pocket change and a bad taste in your mouth. A better bet: Revamp your IT system for serious savings. Just how serious? We asked Dudley Wells, senior partner of managed service provider GO Technology Management. For each of several IT tweaks he suggests, Wells offers his estimate on annual savings for a company with 50 employees/computers.
| IF YOU . . . |
YOU’LL SAVE . . |
BECAUSE . . . |
| Outsource your IT services . . . |
$25,000 |
A full-time IT employee earns an average annual salary of $60,000. Outsourcing IT will cost $35,000. |
| Off-lease your 50 computers . . . |
$25,000 |
A new Dell desktop with all the fixings (4GB RAM, 500GB HD, 19-inch flat screen, three-year warranty) will set you back $1,100. Off-lease the same computer for $600. |
| Use open-source software . . . |
$18,950 |
If you buy Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 for 50 computers, you’ll get a discounted bulk rate of $379 per license. With Sun OpenOffice, you’ll get a discounted rate of free. |
| Switch to VoIP . . . |
$21,400 |
To set up and service an analog phone system, you’ll pay $39,000. Go the way of VoIP and spend $17,600—from the initial investment to the system’s service. |
| Use remote online backup . . . |
$2,400 |
Tape backup, an analog process used to back up data, comes to at least $3,000 annually, including the cost of tapes and a monthly off-site rotation service. You’ll pay $600 for online backup (estimate based on 50GB of data for a year). |
| Opt for electronic faxing . . . |
$1,060 |
An analog fax line and supplies—plus the $100 machine—totals about $1,300. A year of e-faxing is $240. |
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