Budgeting is hell enough as it is, but when you take the pandemic into account, it becomes even worse. So it’s no shocker that we need to be more aware of our budgeting now more than ever. However, this can be a stimulus to move forward and get efficient and innovative with your business planning. And with IT support being a vital aspect of the IT business, you will want to stick around and find out more.
Make a List of Expenses
This is the most abstract piece of advice from the list. When dealing with any budgeting issues, regardless of the business, it’s best to manage your expenses by writing them all down. Start the list off with the most vital expenses (rent, electricity, and water). And then move your way down. It can be really easy to not realize what things you are spending money on, and writing it all down can give you a better perspective of your fiscal management.
Assign Priorities
When dealing with budgeting issues, the most sensible decision is to assign priorities. Sure, we would all love to buy the newest hardware to support our infrastructure, but reality can be a hassle. So, our best path is to look at the business and label what is vital and what is not, what can we afford to spend resources on, and what will give the most ROI. Essential upgrades to outdated hardware will always take priority over complete IT asset overhauls.
There are two payment models that you can opt for.
Pay as You Go
For those who prefer to take on all the responsibility, this is the model for you. This model is cheaper in the short run as you will only be calling when you have reached a big problem, but when you do call, the expenses accumulate fast. So we recommend that you discuss the price estimate upfront, and a service level agreement in order to have a consistent response time.
Another issue is that if a problem arises, you will be in a queue with other customers, which can be extremely detrimental if it’s an urgent problem.
Flat Rate
When you sign an agreement for the purchase of IT services with a flat fee, you are making an estimate on the total worth of the services that you will receive in the coming months (or even years). You are taking the full hands-off approach and letting the IT company do everything that is IT-related for you. So this can cover everything from firewall management and IT system monitoring to software licensing and security software. On the note of security software, let’s talk about:
Preventive Maintenance
Having a strong preventive system against viruses and irregularities is crucial for any IT business. This is an area where you really shouldn’t try to save a few bucks at the cost of a downgrade in maintenance or a worse intervention plan. Prevention is vital to keeping your business tech support expenses down. It is more expensive in the short run, but it will prove itself down the line, where you won’t need to spend as much money on tech support. As has been proven by bellhowell: “preventative maintenance prolongs the life of a system resulting in reduced costs and increased profits”. Of course, no system is ideal, and viruses will happen from time to time, but don’t let this dissuade you from the number of viruses you have avoided due to a strong intervention plan.
Find Cost-effective Solutions
There will be times where you need additional hands on deck for larger projects, and ideally, you want to avoid having to temporarily hire more employees just to get the job done. Instead, outsourcing your IT support can prove to be a far more efficient and financially feasible way of getting the job done.
In some cases, they can even act as temporary COT’s, in which case you can have flexible assistance for the amount of work that needs to be put in. Hell, they can even be used to train the staff in order to redirect your focus on more pressing matters.
Managed IT Support
Sooner or later, a business will hit a wall, and the question is how do you deal with that wall? There are usually 2 ways of dealing with this. You can either hire an IT support guy who will do the job as a 1-time gig, or you can hire a Managed Service Provider who will take care of the problem. As we have mentioned previously, outsourcing will be cheaper for you. Generally, opting for managed IT services will be worth the investment as it proves to be more efficient.
Shift Resources
If a vital IT upgrade is needed, it can be beneficial to redirect extra resources from other less important projects in order to get the maximum value out of the invested resources. Carrying out a full IT audit can be beneficial in spotting any potential budgeting issues, as well as any IT support tools that simply aren’t profitable.
Plan for the Long Run
A common mistake that happens is that when we are faced with financial issues, we try to cut down and think more short-term. This couldn’t be more wrong in the IT industry, in order to survive you need to think long-term. You need to spend money in order to make money, upgrading your servers to modern standards is vital for the future of your business, so you simply can’t neglect these factors. Replace your servers every 5 years, and your monitors and printers only when they stop working or you have the spare money to invest in higher-grade equipment.
In conclusion, there is no single answer that will solve all of your issues, instead, it falls upon you to make careful estimates and research on what to do and how to approach these business expenses. Remember, in order to get the optimal conclusion, consult your team to get a mix of opinions on the matter.
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