CUT COSTS, NOT CORNERS

This week, UK IT consultancy firm Affiniti revealed that its research had shown that firms are looking to cut IT staff without putting plans in place for expansion or recovery. The company noted that, while many enterprises are cutting IT staff, few are looking for ways to replace the roles and duties of the lost staff, or considering how future recovery could affect those departments. The research found that 75% of companies are looking to cut overall IT costs, but fewer than 10% are considering alternatives, such as cutting operating costs or moving to managed services. Affiniti points out that this could ultimately lead to a large number of companies being unable to adequately manage their IT, and goes on to recommend that IT departments look for alternative cost saving strategies.

For businesses of any size, the current economic climate is a difficult one to survive in, never mind prosper. The management of IT infrastructures is an area that has grown in importance over recent years – and with this growth in importance has come an exponential increase in cost and in the size of the headache it presents.

However, this headache can be removed and IT management costs cut immediately by switching from in-house IT management to hosted IT, or ‘IT on demand’.

This model removes the burden of managing your IT infrastructure in-house, leaving you to concentrate on growing your business and maximising turnover. In one stroke you can eliminate the cost of buying PCs and software licenses, and installing, maintaining and upgrading hardware. With only a simple monthly charge per user, hosted services from ThinkGrid allow you to scale your provision up or down as needed. Along with cutting costs and providing greater flexibility, moving your IT off-premise frees your staff up to concentrate on profitable business activities, rather than having to spend time carrying out mundane maintenance and management tasks. This in turn improves their effectiveness and productivity.

There are ways to reduce the cost burden of your IT – cutting jobs may seem like a quick solution now, but it could backfire on you.