The past few years have seen the movement of cutting IT spending to the bare minimum in businesses. But before you decide to reduce your spending, how can you maximize your return on the investment and be sure you’re getting everything your money has to offer? Here are four key ways to determine what needs to be cut – and what could benefit from further investment.
1. Analyze your spending
Crunch numbers and look at the results. By sorting your spending into categories, you can find the most and least profitable enterprises – and cull or invest as needed.
2. Maximize your assets
Take a look at your assets and make sure that they are being put to proper use. You don’t want your money going to waste, so regular queries into the maintenance and use of your assets are important to maximizing your overall return on IT spending.
3. Consider lease vs. own
Using a third party to manage certain IT assets can have more positive effects than you might think. It may enable you to be more flexible, it is often cheaper, and your service return may be higher quality than simply using your own department. Be sure to consider all aspects of moving your assets, however, as it may affect your management or business goals in the process.
4. Open communication flows
You are only as strong as your weakest employee. Encourage innovation in your IT program by stimulating collaboration in the department, as some employees may have different ways of maximizing value to the same end result. Communicate with your department regularly about your business goals, and utilize training, seminars, and expos to keep IT employees from stagnating.
To learn more about IT security, join us at our Small Business Lunch-And-Learn, A 360˚ Degree Approach To All Things IT: Control The Chaos, Protect Your Small Business, and Turn Unknowns Into Opportunity on May 24th. Specifically geared towards protecting your small business, the Expo is the next step in securing yourself in the cyber-world.
