NO!

OK, so saving IT dollars does technically save you money for your company if you look at the immediate cost.  Unfortunately that's where most decisions stop.  "Gosh, we're spending $2,000.00 a month on help desk, network administration, hardware, power...  Let's cut that to $500/month and we'll be saving $18,000.00 each year!"  Sounds enticing doesn't it?  Unfortunately you'll probably lose half of that due to wasting time on figuring out simple help desk issues, and you'll probably have some sort of large IT system error that costs you somewhere in the range of what you thought you were saving by cutting IT costs.

Instead of simply cutting cost by reducing services look at these factors on how you can reduce your IT costs to save money, but keep your company well supported and on track to reach its goals.

• Analyze your hardware.  Do you have more than you need, or is it outdated?  It could be costing you to have older hardware supported, repaired, or failing at your company.  Check with your IT company to make sure that the equipment does everything you need, and that it will survive until you are ready to invest in new equipment.  If you aren't sure what your hardware is capable of consult with your IT company, or department, to utilize it to its full capacity.  If you have a server but are still storing documents on your PC you should probably use what you have invested so much money in.
• Use Web Based Software.  (Wall Street Journal)Installing software "locally" (on individual machines) can be costly.  Using an online service eliminates the need to install software on your computer, is accessible from anywhere, and increases the availability, and often the efficiency, of your employees.
• Check your work-flow.  Many offices are taking unnecessary steps, and slowing down their processes, without even knowing it.  A good IT company, or department, can help you identify areas in which you can improve on work-flow through your technology.  Utilize your hardware, software, and goals to create a system that eliminates unnecessary steps, gathers needed information, and creates a system that will increase efficiency and decrease costs.
• Managed Services.  (CRN.com) It sounds odd, but there aren't many Managed Service Providers using the term "managed services." Rather, they market themselves as "outsourced IT departments." The terminology might be complex, but the concept is not: helping customers lower costs by monitoring and managing their IT infrastructure. In most cases, customers pay the MSP a recurring fee to take care of their IT needs. Because MSPs have more control over both their resources and the customer, the end user's costs are typically less than the traditional break-fix model.
  
  "It's pretty easy. We take responsibility for their network. My analogy is if you had a mechanic living in your garage, your car would run forever," said B.J. Farmer, CEO of CITOC Inc., a Houston-based MSP.

So before you put your IT budget on the chopping block invest some time and money into analyzing your hardware, software, work-flow, and IT services.  If you see an area that can be improved on consult with a local IT company that you trust, and find some areas that will save you money upfront and increase efficiency for your organization.

Business Checklist

We’ve created this checklist for you and your company to analyze your current IT support and to determine if you are getting the best possible support.  These are basic items that you should have at your business to keep your server safe, up to date, and give you the access you need.

Œ       Corporate Antivirus software: to protect the server and all pc on your network. This should automatically update with new definitions each day and push these updates to all PCs on the network. It should also run daily virus scan on all PCs on the network.

Œ       Security updates to protect all PCs on the network. These keep all PCs up to date with the latest software and protects from outside attacks.

Œ       System Back Ups that run every day with a tape that is taken offsite and stored in a safety deposit box each week. All employee documents should be saved to the network server (not locally on their PCs) so that all documents are backed up each day and are recoverable should a file be lost.

Œ       Hardware Firewall and VPN to protect your network from outside attacks, and give all employees access to their work desktops and network recourse from anywhere in the world.

Œ       Exchange Email Sever, if you want to host your own email, use public calendars, be able to retain all communications within your organization.

Œ       Server Maintenance performed daily to ensure the daily backups are successful and verified, review critical logs, hardware review, network security review, security updates, and virus definitions, and much more.

If you do not have at least these actions being performed you need to contact your IT provider and request a list of services to find out what they are doing or contact us at ITsolutions@intertechpro.com or 1-800-376-9174 to ensure that your IT system is properly designed and supported.