{"id":31674,"date":"2018-08-27T18:18:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T22:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?p=31674"},"modified":"2023-03-03T15:23:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T19:23:12","slug":"growing-small-business-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andysowards.com\/blog\/2018\/growing-small-business-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Your Small Business IT on a Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business growth almost always means infrastructure growth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and since IT systems represent the backbone of most company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sales, management and marketing systems, any kind of growth tends to require some IT spend.<\/p>\n

So, what do you do? Only grow when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got the budget to put down on tech equipment or IT staff? Or take the risk that your current systems will carry the strain?<\/p>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\n5 Ways To Choose The Right Software For Your Business<\/em><\/p>\n

The good news is, there are some tried and tested ways of cutting corners on tech spending \u00e2\u20ac\u201c without cutting corners on the quality of the infrastructure you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have in place. Here, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll outline 5 ways your IT can accommodate growth without leaving a painful dent in your bottom line.<\/p>\n

Look at open source software<\/h3>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\nWhich Platform Delivers a Better Store, Open Source or Proprietary?<\/em><\/p>\n

There are some exceptionally costly programs and applications out there \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and if you need one, the perception is that putting your hand in your pocket is the only option.<\/p>\n

In reality, there are millions of pieces of software that you can access entirely free of charge \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re written and supported by open source developers. The term \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcopen source\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 refers to the idea that the source code of an application is freely available and can be openly redistributed and modified by users or developers.<\/p>\n

The result is a world of software that rivals (and sometimes surpasses) the household names we see powering businesses. Whether you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for a CRM system, accounts software, payroll applications, project management \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or many, many more \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re likely to find an outstanding open source option.<\/p>\n

Use a managed service provider<\/h3>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\n5 things to look for when hiring a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the biggest hurdles involved with growing IT systems is the sheer person-power that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needed to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dckeep the lights on\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

For many companies, IT staffing represents in excess of 85% of their tech spend \u00e2\u20ac\u201c usually across direct support and helpdesk provisions. Interestingly, studies show that 70% of companies often feel exposed by their in-house IT teams, with most of those reasons relating to the unpredictable nature of employees; quite simply, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dictate sickness, holidays, maternity\/paternity leave, new jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and the other factors that could see a gap at your IT team meeting.<\/p>\n

If the unpredictability and expense of an in-house IT team fills you with dread, then outsourcing your support is a natural step to take \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the benefits are almost endless.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not difficult to find a managed service provider (MSP) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whether you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for simple installation help, or you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a mid-sized company looking for full managed wide area network and IT services. One of the biggest benefits is access \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most MSPs will be able to provide 24\/7\/365 support if you need it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll often give you a dedicated account manager who understands your systems and can be on direct dial from your organisation.<\/p>\n

Using an MSP is likely to save you across the board \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aside from reducing your wages bill, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be saving considerable amounts of money on training and accreditations too, not to mention recruitment.<\/p>\n

Invite employees to BYOD<\/h3>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\nIs Inefficient Tech Harming Your Business?<\/em><\/p>\n

This next tip is one that invites controversy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but implemented properly, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s likely to save you more money than any other IT approach you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find.<\/p>\n

The idea is simple, you ask employees to work from their own devices \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbring your own device\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 BYOD as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commonly termed. Now, while the idea is simple, the proper execution of the idea will vary, depending on the kind of business you are. From a small design agency, it might be simply implemented \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whereas for a mid-sized financial company, the security constraints might make it outright impossible \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth asking the question and considering what would be involved.<\/p>\n

Although it might look like it at a glance, BYOD isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about saving money on hardware \u00e2\u20ac\u201c studies show that employees can be up to 10% more effective with their time when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working on equipment they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re comfortable and familiar with \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which buys you an additional 4 hours productivity a week, or around 160 hours a year, effectively upping an individual\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual output by 4 full weeks.<\/p>\n

There are a LOT of security considerations \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not least because of the global impact of GDPR laws, but if you want to cut your IT budget down to a fraction of its original size, BYOD might be an interesting subject to explore.<\/p>\n

Outsource your infrastructure<\/h3>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\nOutsource IT, It Is the Only Way<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve looked at the price of the most serious pieces of IT networking infrastructure, you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised to discover that a huge number of small business just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford or justify the outlay needed to expand their IT networking abilities.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the large tech companies understand this too \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and, always keen to put their hands on business\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve implemented another method of accessing these systems \u00e2\u20ac\u201c IaaS.<\/p>\n

IaaS stands for \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcInfrastructure as a Service\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the idea is fairly simple; rather than pay to put these devices into your own building, they hold the device \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and offer you access on a monthly\/annual subscription basis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and with cloud technology in its current state, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a perfectly workable arrangement.<\/p>\n

\"Growing<\/a>
\nStreamline Your IT Management Today<\/em><\/p>\n

So, instead of a mail server \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you get a virtual mail server \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and unless you like exceptionally hot pieces of IT networking equipment in the corner of your office, the result is no different. Of course, there are security issues \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as, depending on what it is you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re access with IaaS, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re effectively storing your data off site \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but you can be certain that Microsoft and the other large IaaS providers are going to do a good job of looking after it.<\/p>\n

The possibilities of IaaS are huge, from virtual-machine disk image libraries, block and file-based storage, security systems, load balancing systems, IP addresses and much more are available from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Rackspace and many more. While the idea of running virtual services like this might sound like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to add another layer of complexity to your network \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often actually a good thing if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re using an MSP \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as management is designed to be remote from the outset, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need to have engineers visiting your site \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which again is likely to save money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business growth almost always means infrastructure growth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and since IT systems represent the backbone of most company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sales, management and marketing systems, any kind of growth tends to require<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,1],"tags":[6633,7121,5891,311,3410,8665,6207,988,6870,256,4359,118,216,280,763,6429,4484,738,227,5901,5879,21,115,9474,9473,8912],"class_list":["post-31674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-tech","tag-budget","tag-budgeting","tag-business","tag-computers","tag-cost","tag-cost-savings","tag-devices","tag-entrepreneur","tag-finances","tag-gadgets","tag-infrastructure","tag-lifehacks","tag-network","tag-networking","tag-open-source","tag-open-source-software","tag-servers","tag-service","tag-software","tag-startup","tag-tech","tag-technology","tag-tips","tag-virtual-machine","tag-vm","tag-vmware"],"yoast_head":"\nGrowing 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