Because it’s impossible to do business today without IT infrastructure, many businesses contract for IT managed services through an IT consultant. Typically, IT consulting consists of providing expertise in four main areas: the company network, data backup, software and hardware. Unfortunately, many organizations overpay for IT management due to inefficiencies and inconsistencies in these systems.
For instance, without virtualization, a company’s network will have a far lower capacity. Virtualization cuts costs by stacking several virtual computers on the same host computer, or dozens of virtual servers on the same physical server. With virtualization, companies pay less for hardware and labor, and they enjoy faster computing speeds.
Using Our Cost Savings Calculator
To help you figure out whether you’re paying too much for maintaining your IT systems, we’ve created an IT cost savings calculator. This free tool allows you to get a feel for how much your company could save by bringing on an IT consultant to streamline your systems.
Number of computers. The first box you’ll fill out is the number of employees who have a dedicated computer, or the number of computers that are used if several employees share the same machines. The calculator multiplies this number by the average cost to care for a computer, assuming one server for every twenty employees.
Annual IT costs. The next box should contain your annual IT expenses, including IT consulting costs, salaries, benefits and ongoing services such as customer email newsletters. With these two pieces of information, the IT cost savings calculator can immediately show how your company’s IT costs compare to the industry average.
Standardizing IT Infrastructure
On an industry level, most companies have out-dated or irregular systems in place, which adds unnecessary operating costs. As you’ll see with the IT cost savings calculator, a skilled IT consultant can significantly undercut the average cost for IT management by standardizing systems and providing IT managed services. Most companies enjoy cost savings by switching to a standards-based IT infrastructure.