Money saving IT tips any company can do

CDW |  IT Management/Strategy, energy, licensing 1 comment

Pare down hardware, software, power and other costs: money-saving IT tips (including some time-savers that can translate into cost savings) that any company can do:

Power, cooling and space:

  • Upgrading Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) to newer energy-efficient units can cut energy use and save money.
  • To save power, have the staff turn off their monitors, task lights, etc. on nights and weekends, while leaving the CPU running.
  • Use blanking panels in server racks and "air locking" grommets in raised-floor panels to minimize cold air loss.
  • House servers in a "cooling closet" or other area where they can be "spot cooled" instead of using general office air conditioning.

IT system/network administration/management:

  • Have your IT vendor pre-configure and asset tag products prior to delivery at you office.
  • Have your IT vendor configure or "ghost" your software onto hardware products prior to delivery.
  • Make use of hardware and software asset management tracking, often available free from your IT vendor.
  • Use free tools like Microsoft's Software Update Services (SUS) patch management to keep systems up to date.
  • Create system images of your configurations, i.e. using Symantec Ghost, to restore systems instead of rebuilding/reinstalling software.
  • Use LogMeIn software to access or control a PC or Mac from a distance.
  • Consider outsourcing IT network administration for installation, support, maintenance and repair.

Security:

  • Use a Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliance instead of purchasing individual security solutions like firewalls, antivirus software, e-mail filters, etc.

Servers:

  • Consolidate servers by using blades and virtualization to replace old, inefficient units, thereby saving money on power, cooling and space.
  • Bring in applications that can run on your current server along with other applications to avoid having to buy another server and save on power and cooling.

Software:

  • Take advantage of money-saving software volume licensing programs often available for as few as five desktop PCs.
  • Implement time-saving software license tracking and management, often available at no charge from your software vendor.
  • When possible, switch from software licensing covering "total-users" to "number-of-active-users" in order to save on fees.
  • Consider open-source software as your server and even desktop operating system as a way to possibly cut costs.

Networking and communications:

  • Consider web-managed switches (smart switches) offering many features of managed switches at close to unmanaged switch prices.
  • Avoid the cost of dropping cables by equipping your office with a wireless (802.11 Wi-Fi) network.
  • Add to office productivity by saving staff the time and hassle of having to delete unwanted e-mail by using anti-spam filtering software.

Telephony:

  • Switch your phone service to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and save nearly 40% on local calls and as much as 90% on international calling.
  • Save about 40 percent in cabling costs for new buildings by using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for telephone service.
  • Use the same staffer for network, data and telephone setup and maintenance by switching to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services.
  • When appropriate, use Skype for collaboration (conference calling), especially for international calls.
  • Use audio, video and multimedia conferencing and collaboration software and web services as an alternative to expensive travel.

Storage:

  • Instead of file servers, use lower-powered, lower cost and easier-to-administer Networked Attached Storage (NAS) appliances.
  • If you have a lot of files, consider de-duplication software to reduce space demands and eliminate the need to purchase extra storage.

Printers:

  • Use multifunction printers (MFPs) combining copy, print, scan and fax functions to eliminate having to purchasing individual devices.
  • Consider a color printer for small print runs to save the time and cost of using an outside print shop.
  • Multifunction printer (MFPs), single machines offering copy, print, scan and fax functionality, can help save money on print consumables (paper, toner, etc.).
  • Multifunction printers (MFPs), providing multiple functionality, take up a small footprint thereby saving office space and possibly cost.
  • Networked multifunction printers (MFPs), strategically located to a workgroup, can help save money by eliminating the need to purchase extra printers.
  • Use printer management software to limit the use of more costly color printing to designated individuals, time of day, etc.
  • Save on paper by promoting 2-up (two page images per side) and duplex (both sides of the paper) printing as well as the reuse of sheets.
  • Save on paper by having the staff print only the pages of documents and web sites that they need.
  • Consider non-brand printer consumables; recycle used cartridges; and look for rebates and other price reductions.
  • Small energy efficient print servers can reduce power use and take up less space, compared to older, larger print servers.

1 comment

    Anonymous 1 year ago
    Nice tips. I would particularly like to comment on all in one printers. They are undoubtedly the workhorse of any office. We switched from an inkjet to all in one and we saw the difference.

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