Without a conscious effort to optimize, IT costs can quickly snowball. Inefficient licensing, redundant software and network maintenance costs can add up to create an environment where far too much money is going to the IT budget rather than to improving products and services.

Thankfully, though the technical aspects of your business are never something you should skimp on, there are various ways you can reduce the capital spent without sacrificing productivity or security. Modern tools, techniques, and billing methods can allow you to pay for only what you need and do so in the most efficient way.

Centralize your IT Infrastructure

One of the most drastic changes to the IT budget in recent times has come from the ability to centralize IT infrastructure in the cloud. Using solutions like Windows Virtual Desktop and other virtual office services, organizations can not only reduce hardware maintenance costs but largely avoid double licensing.

With Windows Virtual Desktop, for example, organizations don't need to provision new hardware. Instead, they spin up and scale virtual desktops for employees on an as-needed basis, turning them off when they aren't needed and only paying for the infrastructure that they use. The multi-session solution comes with optimizations for the Microsoft 365 suite and support for Remote Desktop services environments, while also reducing security and compliance costs through built-in measures.

Keep on Top of Your Licensing

It almost goes without saying but knowing the details of the licenses you already hold is essential to optimizing your IT budget. In practice, though, this can be more of a headache than it seems. Collating such information, which isn't always well-documented, can quickly become overwhelming.

VirtuWorks' Microsoft-validated MSPControl can make the task much simpler. As well as providing the ability to perform complex IT management tasks with minimal technical knowledge, it provides a centralized location to view licensing. This, in turn, allows for more informed decisions when it comes to new, current, and expiring licenses, and ultimately more efficient finances.

Explore Metered Billing

For some organizations, additional IT budget savings can be had through the use of Azure metered billing. Azure billing adopts techniques seen in the energy sector to allow customers to pay for their applications based on the bandwidth used, emails sent, storage used, or other parameters, with costs scaling in tiers.

Though metered billing isn't for everyone, it can be fairer when a tool or service is used intermittently or when usage is quite predictable. By starting with an assessment of average usage, firms can discover if metered billing would work better for them and minimize the risk of switching to a new billing method.

Once the switch is made, gaining further insights into application or service usage can be done with ease. With analytic tools, you can work out the cost of each action and estimate the end of month charge in advance.

Avoid Term Contracts

At VirtuWorks, we've found that term contracts can significantly reduce the lag involved with innovation – if every new service or technology requires a financial commitment of at least a year, you're much less likely to jump on emerging trends that could not only give you an edge in your industry but save costs in the long-term for your IT department.

Most managed service providers try to lock customers into long commitments despite their service being untested. This can lead to productivity loss or downtime if the service is poor, but more critically it significantly reduces business agility.

From a consumer standpoint, then, there are limited advantages to being locked into a long-term contract. From the view of a service provider, forcing term contracts can suggest an insecurity in its ability to provide good service. VirtuWorks instead offers no term contracts, trusting that the value and VirtuWorks Advantage will speak for itself. Contact us today to learn more.