Utilizing the Cloud to Keep Your IT Expenses Under Control

IT infrastructure is often seen as one of the biggest “financial burdens” of a company. However, as digital transformation has become inevitable, it’s impossible for businesses not to invest in reliable IT infrastructure and resources. What can you do then? Luckily, you live in an era where you can easily implement various programs and policies to reduce your IT expenses without losing the benefits.

How to Reduce Your IT Costs

We have gathered five common ways for you to keep your IT infrastructure costs under control.

1. Implement virtualization
Virtualization generally means replacing physical hardware with virtual counterparts, and it’s one of the methods that can help you achieve significant cost savings. Virtualization allows you to eliminate the need for hardware, including physical servers, leading to reduced energy usage and expenses.

2. Limit new assets acquisition
To control expenses, new asset acquisition needs to be controlled and limited to essential conditions, such as remote work implementation or new products/services execution. You can make it possible by doing two things: extending the life cycle of your current assets through routine maintenance and opting for pre-owned used hardware.

3. Utilize on-demand resources
You can turn your non-critical resources, both staff and equipment, from fixed costs into optional ones. You can choose to rent equipment or space and hire staff based on projects, making them ad hoc options.

4. Utilize third-party vendors
Outsourcing is another way to reduce IT infrastructure costs because it allows you to not only pay for services as you use, but also choose third-party vendors which suit your budget. Moreover, by hiring reliable and experienced vendors, you can gain the most out of the money you spend, making it a cost-effective option.

5. Consider the cloud
Believe it or not, cloud computing plays an important role in reducing your IT  infrastructure costs. But how? Let’s take a closer look at how the cloud helps you reduce your IT expenses.

How Cloud Computing Reduce Your IT Costs

Cloud computing allows you to save costs in three ways.

1. The cloud allows you to reduce new hardware acquisition.
By using a cloud provider, you don’t have to have your own hardware. Your cloud provider will be in charge of hardware provision. Moreover, migrating to the cloud can help you maximize space and significantly cut energy expenses.

2. The cloud allows you to lower your capital investment.
The initial cost of the cloud is lower than in-house solutions. Cloud solutions are also often available in a pay-per-use pricing model which allows you to save money. Moreover, by using the cloud for your business operations, such as for data storage and remote work, you may cut your expenses for office space.

3. The cloud allows you to reduce labor and maintenance costs.
As hardware is owned by your cloud provider and stored in an off-site location, there is less demand for in-house IT staff, allowing you to reduce your human resources expenses. You can also save costs for hardware maintenance and upgrades as they’re your provider’s responsibility.

To summarize, migrating to the cloud is one of the most reasonable and effective ways to reduce your IT costs. Cloud providers, such as neuCentrIX, usually offer three cloud deployment types — private, public, or hybrid cloud — which you can choose based on your needs. However, whichever you use, all types of cloud computing deployment benefit you in similar ways.