How to save money by investing in IT …

Saving money and driving cost efficiency is an important aspect of business planning, to ensure your organisation remains profitable, viable, successful and sustainable. 

Whilst this may be difficult due to rising costs, staff costs and other ‘immovable’ rates your business is due to pay, there are ways to reduce your bottom line by investing in your IT. 

This may seem counter-intuitive, however, investing in your IT does not always mean throwing more money at tech companies in the hope to achieve a better outcome.  There are several ways you can optimise your IT environment without breaking the bank and in fact, more often than not, they drive productivity and cost improvements that in turn reduce your bottom line, and can increase revenue.

We’ve outlined some handy ways you can optimise your IT, and save money for your business by investing in IT!

1. Move To The Cloud

Moving your business to cloud computing can bring extremely powerful benefits, not only does it save you money, it can drive productivity, and flexibility and enables your business to be agile in an ever-changing IT environment.

Lower maintenance costs

Moving to cloud-based software reduces the need for on-site hardware, as you no longer need servers and generators etc. and the excessive costs of maintaining and updating them.

Your cloud provider takes ownership of updates, and maintains their servers as well as application software, reducing the financial burden on your hands as well as the pressure of managing it.

Lower energy costs

Stats show that cloud computing is up to 90% more efficient than onsite data centres.  Due to not needing to maintain your own servers, you save money on the energy needed to power this equipment.

Only pay for what you need

Another benefit of moving to the cloud is the fact that there are little to no high upfront costs or hidden fees and you only pay for what you use for the businesses. 

A fixed fee pricing model allows you to plan ahead and scale up and down your IT needs when you need it in busy times or when you add new team members.

2. User awareness training

Investing in cyber security training is a fast way to improve security, and reduce the risk of a breach which can be catastrophic financially for businesses.  Over 90% of successful cyber breaches are caused by human errors, and many reports suggest that many of these attacks would be prevented with better basic hygiene.

As the cybersecurity landscape continues to grow and become more technical and threatening, the need for creating a culture of cyber awareness and good hygiene is essential for any organisation looking to stay ahead of the growing threat landscape. 

Security training and phishing simulations are a great way to empower your workforce to recognise and respond to attacks quickly and effectively. By providing tailored training, your employees will be better informed on how to protect your organisation from cybercriminals. Additionally, encouraging employees to practise good cybersecurity habits, such as keeping devices and software up to date, using strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and avoiding suspicious links, can further strengthen your defences against cybercrime.

3. Outsourcing your IT

Whilst the thought of outsourcing any aspect of your IT may seem an expensive and unknown exercise, the fact is, cost reduction is one of the biggest reasons to outsource your IT.

The average salary of an IT Manager is typically within the region of £30,000 – £60,000 per annum depending on the size of the organisation and the sector. However, this salary is just the tip of the iceberg for the overall costs associated with an IT Manager. 

Whereas, outsourcing your IT to a Managed Service Provider, could give you an opportunity to make significant financial savings, as well as free up valuable time, to focus on other business initiatives.

Working with an MSP like CSG enables you to outsource as much as little of your IT as you need for a fraction of the cost of an IT manager.  Whether you require fully managed service  or some extra hands at times of peak demand, CSG can provide a solution that is tailored specifically to you. 

Our managed support includes 24/7 proactive monitoring from our experts, all included in one monthly bill from us, so you won’t get a shock with any extra costs!

Read more about the benefits of managed IT support with CSG here … 

4. Automation

Automation solutions have the potential to revolutionise the way your team works, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks or projects that require a human touch. Automation can also help reduce costs associated with human error and increase efficiency by streamlining processes and providing a simpler end-user experience. By investing in automation solutions, you can save your team countless hours and reduce labour costs, resulting in increased ROI and improved productivity.

Some of the common automation processes include: 

• Cloud automation 
• Configuration 
• Network management  
• Security (such as monitoring and response) 

This is a huge shift from the traditional end-of-month ordeal, wherein managers could be spending a day or two collating and manipulating data to present to their board or team. Not only does this save valuable time, but it also supplies full transparency of your operations, so you can make strategic business decisions to help your business succeed.

5. Set an IT budget

Creating an IT budget is essential for businesses to understand their financial situation. A comprehensive budget will help you track your spending and income, anticipate future expenses, and identify areas that may need additional resources. 

Budgeting also gives you an idea of how your revenue and outgoings may vary over time, allowing you to adjust your budget according to predicted changes and new priorities. 

It’s easy for businesses to lose track of their ongoing expenses such as subscriptions, peripherals, telecoms, network infrastructure and security are all essential expenses that can easily be overlooked.

Creating an IT budget will help you establish the needs of the business and whether recurring costs are still important for operations.  Sometimes reducing costs isn’t the answer, as short gains in finances can often be more costly further down the line, especially when it comes to cyber security training your staff.

Working with an expert is a great way to establish a budget, and work out whether you’re getting the most out of your IT.

Why working with CSG will help you drive cost efficiency…

Customer Focussed

Our clients are fundamental to the success of our company and we are continually monitoring key performance indicators to improve all aspects of service delivery.  We’re highly rated on Google and TrustPilot and are renowned for delivering excellent service to all of our clients regardless of size and sector. 

Security First

Providing a robust security system for our clients is essential for safeguarding valuable data. We pride ourselves on delivering high levels of security and can create and implement entire strategies for our clients. 

We benchmark against the very best advanced threat intelligence solutions and deliver industry-leading tech solutions for our valuable clients.

24/7 Support

Proactive monitoring of your systems from our experts, our technical staff are Microsoft certified and work with all major technology vendors. This way we ensure the service and systems we provide are to the best possible standard.

We also … 

• Have 3 offices across the UK, Bridgend, Bristol and Exeter
• Have a 98% client retention rate
• Have over 400 clients across the UK
• Average 4.78/5 on customer survey scores
• Sponsor, work with and raise money for several charities

Please feel free to contact our friendly team if you have any questions, or if you would like to find out how to optimise your IT environment please explore our FREE network audit by CSG.