Start 2021 off with the best and most cost-effective IT solutions. After last year, you may be eyeing your IT costs and wondering if there is any way to minimize those line items. Here at Symmetric IT Group, we believe we should function as your IT consultant just as much as your IT service provider. Part of our advice to any client is to approach the budgeting process with all the details. Knowing what you are currently spending and the tools you have is vital to making better budget decisions.

We have taken the time to define our spending approach and have developed four steps to take when reevaluating your IT budget. Though we can’t promise these steps will save you tons of money, they will get you on track for investing in reliable IT services. If you’d like help evaluating what IT services best fit your company, give us a call, and we would be happy to help you out.

Step 1: Audit Your IT solutions and tools.

Take a look at your current technology solutions. You want to fully understand everything you spent money on and begin to evaluate if it has been effective or worth it.

When evaluating, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this the right system for my business? Does it accomplish all I need it to?
• Are we currently utilizing all the tools we are paying for? Can we cut any?
• Have we scaled our infrastructure appropriately to support our growing team?
• Can we renegotiate any contracted services?

Step 2: Cut any redundant or unnecessary services.

If it isn’t working for you, don’t waste your money on it. We find that sometimes businesses continue paying for IT services that they know they aren’t effectively utilizing because they don’t know if there is another solution out there and don’t have the time to research. Work with a professional IT provider like us. We do a full analysis of your spending to pinpoint any extra costs and identify areas where you can save. 

A great example of wasting money on redundant services is paying for Dropbox and Microsoft 365 when Microsoft 365 can replace everything you had in Dropbox.

Step 3: Avoid applying band aids to a broken system.

We always recommend that you avoid a break-fix mentality. Paying for fixes as they pop up is usually less cost-effective in the long run than investing in a reliable and sustainable IT solution for your business and having your provider perform regular maintenance to keep everything running smoothly. However, there are exceptions. There are standard best practices for keeping your systems healthy, but there are also intricacies to every situation.  We work to help you evaluate the true and total cost of these decisions.

Step 4: Fortify yourself against cyberthreats.

60% of small businesses go under within six months of a cyberattack. Though a lot of advertising for cybersecurity services is aggressive, it is not incorrect. Cyberattacks are on the rise. It is no longer a question of if you will experience an attack, but when. Leaving your business exposed can be extremely costly. Undoing the harm caused by a cyberattack (if it can be undone) takes time and money. It is much more effective to put preventative security in place.

With these steps you will be on the path to better, more strategic, IT budgeting. Adopting these practices can help you save money and focus your spending where it will have the most impact on your business. If you’re hesitant about taking these steps on your own, that’s okay! We encourage you to give Symmetric IT Group a call . We can help you identify a detailed plan for your business and guide you through adjusting your IT to support it.