Can you think of recent examples of when poor office IT caused you problems or cost your business money? Maybe you had problems sharing working files with co-workers, or perhaps your laptop won’t connect to the office Wi-Fi? Poor IT infrastructure has many negative impacts on your organization, including extra costs. Most businesses recognize the costs associated with the set-up of IT, but few consider the costs of its maintenance and support.
How much are you really spending on technology?
Sadly, you’re probably spending more than you think on IT!
Upfront costs and ongoing costs
The upfront IT costs can include software and hardware infrastructure, and are the ones we think about. For example, while shopping on the Apple Store website and scoping out laptop specifications, you’re keeping your eye on the prices. However, it’s the ongoing costs for support and services after the initial purchase that can add up quickly. In our laptop example, that means buying a new adapter because the port has changed and it won’t plug into your monitor, or having to upgrade some programs that no longer work on the new operating system. Gartner Inc. found that 80% of total IT costs occur after the initial purchase.
The cost of downtime
Furthermore, Dunn & Bradstreet estimate that 59% of Fortune 500 companies experience at least 1.6 hours of downtime every week. If you think about how many employees are affected during this time and how much they are getting paid, that’s a huge cost to the organization. Now think about this example and scale it down relative to the size of your business. These are costs that you shouldn’t be incurring.
IT outages can have a ripple effect on how they impact an organization. At times, databases and applications that get affected can be restored quickly but often a full data recovery might take longer. Unfortunately, it is smaller businesses that suffer. During recovery periods, employees are only able to achieve 57% of their usual productivity levels. This is compared to 67% in medium sized companies and 67% in larger enterprises.
We always advise our clients to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to planning their IT.
Quick tips for reducing your IT spending
- Track your IT spending on a monthly basis so you know not only how much you are spending but also what you are spending your money on.
- Standardize equipment, software platforms and configurations to reduce complexity.
- Protect against viruses, hackers and physical threats through proper security measures.
- Provide regular and updated training for your employees.
- Outsource key IT functions including technical support, data back-up, security and file storage.
IT has an impact on the way that employees and customers see your business. Using an outsourced IT service provider is often an efficient way for organizations to have reliable IT infrastructure that complements their overall workflow. Here are the top benefits of outsourcing your organization’s IT support.
If you think your organization is spending too much time or money on office IT, we’d love to help fix that.