In the current climate everyone is looking at ways to cut costs, including businesses of all sizes, and those in the Alternative Investment sector.
However reviewing how you currently spend in certain areas of your business doesn’t always have to mean reducing services. In fact, it can often be an exercise worth doing to ensure that what you have in place is efficient and is contributing to business growth.
This logic particularly applies when reviewing your current IT infrastructure and partner.
Digital transformation is a way to improve processes and productivity but it doesn’t have to mean a complete overhaul of your current IT infrastructures. Yes, technology continuously changes but by working with experienced IT partner it’s important to start with what you already have in place, ensuring that it’s fit for purpose and efficient. This can minimise the need for large and potentially unnecessary expenditure.
In this blog, Ian Rimmer – Operations Director at Tribeca, gives some tips and ideas to consider when looking at how digital transformation can support your business growth, and potentially even reduce IT spend in the long run. This blog will focus on four key areas of any IT infrastructure review checklist:
- Lisence management
- Consolidation
- Out of contract services
- Cloud services
Licence Management.
Most businesses in the financial sector will have a number of licences in place for the differing types of software being used globally. Start by reviewing these software licences, it’s particularly relevant for large businesses operating across several worldwide sites and with multiple users.
This is the best place to begin your IT infrastructure review because you could have leavers that still have licences assigned to them so you’re potentially continuing to pay for a number of licences that are no longer in use.
Microsoft Office 365, allows for a leavers mailbox data to be retained by converting it to a shared mailbox. This mailbox doesn’t utilise a licence and is therefore free of charge and a good way to retain vital information.
By reviewing licences, it is highly likely that you will come across some services that you are continuing to pay for, often on a monthly or annual subscription. Clarity on what is either not being used or not being utilised to its full capacity will allow you to make informed decisions and minimise unnecessary costs, helping you to reduce IT spend overall.
It is also a good exercise to ensure that you are purchasing your licences in the most cost efficient way. There are many different licence types, ensuring you have the right licences for your organisations needs is vital.
Consolidation.
If you are wondering how to reduce IT infrastructure costs, you need to consider consolidation. As businesses grow, consolidating is a way to increase efficiencies, and this same logic applies to your IT infrastructure as well as other areas of the business.
As you conduct your IT infrastructure review, you need to consider whether you are using a variety of applications across the business that have similar functionality and whether there may be an opportunity to consolidate them into a single application?
It is also worth looking at your current telephony solution. If you are still paying for this solution separately it could be worth looking at migrating this to MS Teams for example and using this application to its full potential. Learn more about Tribeca’s telecoms services, providing a number of unified communications for alternative investment businesses.
Out of contract services.
An important part of any IT infrastructure review checklist, you should be reviewing the contract status of services, such as:
- Connectivity
- Mobile telephony.
If you are already out of your fixed initial period, renegotiating those services onto another fixed period can realise potential savings.
Cloud Computing Services.
Private, public and hybrid cloud computing have revolutionised the way businesses deliver IT services. Each type of cloud computing comes with its own benefits, but the best one for you depends entirely on your business needs. With that being said, it’s crucial that you review your cloud services regularly to ensure they’re helping you reduce IT spend and not costing you more than they should be.
For example, if you are using public cloud then it’s worth continuously reviewing the services that you have activated. This is a consumption-based billing model and there may be services that are no longer required, that you are continuing to pay for each month. Therefore, by continuously reviewing your activated services, you may be able to reduce IT spend and make your money go further!
At Tribeca, we are proud to have years of experience and expertise in cloud computing. From our experience, we will always advise our clients on the best cloud solution that suits their business, considering both short-term and long-term factors to ensure they’re always getting the best value for money!
How can Tribeca support your Alternative Investment business to reduce IT spend through digital transformation?
Undergoing digital business transformation is a great way to support your business’ growth without breaking the bank. Regularly undertaking an IT infrastructure review can help your business to maximise value for money and reduce IT spend.
According to our Operations Director, Ian Rimmer, there are several areas to pay close attention to if you want to ensure the best value for money:
- Licence management
- Consolidation
- Out of contract services
- Cloud computing services
Learn more about the benefits of digital transformation in the financial sector, in our recent blog.
At Tribeca, we are proud to provide our expertise in digital transformation to businesses in the alternative investment industry. If you are looking for a proactive IT partner, who will regularly review your IT spend and ensure that you are getting the best value for money then contact us now.
