Every business knows that one of the largest drains on company resources is IT - everything from staff training, new software or that unexpected problem can cause significant financial stress and completely wipe out productivity.
An IT plan needs to be accessible and a lot more affordable, and there are plenty of ways to do this effectively. Here are 3 ways your Morton Grove Business can save money without cutting down essential services.
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is especially cost effective for SMBs and startups. There’s no initial pay out on servers and new software, which we all know can be very expensive, especially for more specific or specialist needs.
Cloud vendors provide the most up to date software as a part of your monthly bill, which can be fixed rate or pay-as-you-go depending on what suits your company. It’s cheaper and easier to scale to your changing demands too - providing a sense of security every Morton Grove business needs.
If you’re already using a cloud vendor, it’s a good idea to look out for alternative vendor prices , deals or offers - just because your Morton Grove company is with a vendor doesn’t mean you have to stick with them if someone else is offering better services or prices. If you do want to stay with your current provider, let them know you’ve seen the same service somewhere else for less money. They’re likely to offer you a similar deal to keep your business.
Open Source Software
If you’re with a cloud vendor, or even if you’re not, business specific software can be expensive and it may not be included in your IT plan. Open source software is software that people can modify and share, as it is publicly accessible. Programmers can access the software source code to improve or tailor it your particular needs, adding features or making it more accessible to mobile technology.
Open source software can be used for one-off projects or can be a part of your daily routines, proving to be especially helpful for businesses such as real estate, insurance or factories that would normally have to pay a large amount for programs to suit their needs. If open source is something you want to consider, Sourceforge has a large index of options and can help you to a good plan for your Morton Grove business.
BYOD
Bring Your Own Device policies are becoming more popular for SMBs - allowing employees to bring their own mobile technology to work and accessing company data on them. Having a BYOD program in your business means that you don’t have to pay for costly hardware and insurance. There's room for huge savings in your IT plan here - not only on laptops or tablets, but on cell phones and services as well. People tend to keep their own devices more up to date than you might be able to afford in the office, meaning you’ll have more up to date software to use without any extra cost.
Letting employees use their own devices means that they are more comfortable with the technology, respond to requests faster as they don’t have to figure out how to use the office hardware and are more likely to keep working outside the office hours and environment - meaning a happier team on all sides.
