Time is money
It’s an old saying, but if you are running a business, it is true – time is money. If you or your staff are spending time on your IT, you are not spending time doing what you do best, and more importantly – what you get paid for! It’s not just that time you spent purchasing and maintaining your own IT to save money either – if you purchase cheaper IT products and services, it can waste a lot of staff time.
Old machines you are putting off upgrading can slow you down. If you or your staff spend time waiting for PCs to boot up, waiting for software to load or watching the infamous “doughnut of death” (or wait cursor to give it it’s official title), that is time that cannot be spent on your business.
Slow networks can be a huge problem, too, especially as we rely on SaaS (Software as a Service) and the cloud more than ever. It is crucial to ensure that you get the internet speeds your business needs, but your internal network equipment is just as essential. If your WiFi equipment is not up to scratch, or your internal cabling is not well managed, and of good quality, that will also be slowing your business down.
Business paused
You cannot run a business using pen & paper in 2022! If your IT is down, so is your ability to make money. While purchasing good quality IT equipment and paying for it to be maintained won’t completely prevent downtime, it will significantly reduce the likelihood. And when things do go wrong, you want it fixed ASAP. You need to have an IT expert on hand who is there at the end of the phone and is ready to come out and sort it out for you.
The high cost of cheap IT
The other thing to consider when looking to save money when purchasing IT is the total cost of ownership. Going for the cheapest option often costs you more in the long run. For example, a cheap laptop isn’t actually that cheap if it is out of date and you need to replace it after just one year. The same is true of your servers and other IT hardware.
Thinking long-term is also essential for software. Going for a cheap option can mean inefficiencies and end up with programmes that don’t talk to each other (and a lot of unnecessary manual data entry). It can also be expensive to pay someone to get them to talk to each other. More expensive integrated packages can save you money long-term. Modular systems where you can purchase the parts you need as your business evolves are also good options.
Whatever you do, don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy, and stick with legacy systems that aren’t working for you. You are better off paying for a better system now and migrating data than waiting until you have a multitude of different systems that you need to replace all at once for a high cost.
The cost of not protecting your data
We have spoken about IT security and protecting your data many times in our other blogs (which you can read here), so we won’t go into detail in this blog, but suffice to say, not paying to protect your IT and your data will cost your business dear!
Other cost-saving benefits of using an IT service company
A good IT service company will get to know your business and will understand better than you what your IT needs are. They can help prevent you from wasting money by recommending the right hardware and software. They can also save you time by negotiating on your behalf. It will take them less time than you as they already understand all of the terminology and already know exactly what you need.
If you want to find out if you cost your business money by trying to save money, contact CNS on 01506 533 799 or email us at enquiries@central-ns.co.uk.
