Do not pay for software. Pay for services, and make sure that there are companies competing for your service contracts. Keep your data in containers that you control. Make sure you can plug them into products you own.
Save money – get better results.
Find out how Altamente can help you save 20% on your total IT expenditures in 2009. Call us at 314-787-8443 or 787-638-5380 or contact us here using this form.
Here we present ten ways to downsize your IT costs in 2009.
10. Make sure your IT department != to software procurement. Train them in developing solutions
A lot of these tips end with the punchline: do not pay for software. That is a common theme here at Altamente. It saves us a ton of time and hassle, but let me illustrate it thusly by the following familiar scenario.
Executive to IT department: “Hey, we need to be able to do X. Think you can get that for us.” IT guy investigates and purchases a “solution,” implements it, and the boss is happy.
Executive to IT department, “Hey, I like the new system. Can we make it do Y.”
The IT department investigates and responds, “No, the company that makes X says they will take that into account in their next version, but they do not have that feature currently.”
Typically, by the time the features you crave become available, you have to pay for an upgrade, migrate your existing data, upgrade your hardware because it will not run on your system and on and on and on. To top it off, your IT department is a glorified middleman between the software seller and your company.
Stop all of that nonsense, and choose an Open Source solution immediately. You will have the capacity now to 1). Make your own changes, 2). Avoid improper relationships between your IT department and software provider, 3). Make your IT department the owner, developer, and parent of the solution.
9. Use open data formats
Make sure your company's assets are not locked up in your software provider's locked box. People who sell software love to “hold” your data for you in formats they control. It may seem innocent enough, but when it comes time to upgrade, because of obsolete hardware or software, you wind up at their mercy and the backwards compatibility of their data formats. Try to take your business to a competitor's software, and you will find that your dataset cannot be exported, massaged, or extracted to the new product. It is your data. You developed it. Why would you choose to warehouse it at someone else's facility where they control the key?
The solution: Open Source software, and open data formats based on an open/free XML schema, an open source SQL database, or any other sensible data format that does not attempt to hi-jack your data. Try Open Office for your DOCs, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations.
8. Pay for services that can be transferred among providers
Just like a proprietary database controlling your data, proprietary software many times dictates the service relationship as well. If you have X software, you must use company Y's service team. Company Y is probably a Value Added Reseller(VAR) for software X, and has a vested interest in making sure you keep using software X and by default company Y. By the way, company Y holds an exclusive arrangement with software company X for your entire region. Good luck finding someone else.
Open Source changes this restrictive supplier/customer dynamic. Because companies like Altamente are not exclusive agents of Open Source software, anyone is free to provide support. If a supplier is not a good match for your organization, you can may someone else who has the exact same rights to see the software, own it, and make changes to the underlying source code. If you do not like or trust outsourcing, you can hire someone to provide the service and maintenance that you need. You are not locked into exclusive or predatory arrangements with your software provider. You control the relationship, and a convenient by-product is that your software is more cost effective.
7. Thin client computing
Do you need to set up a workstation for someone who will be accessing a web-based knowledge application, email, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and groupware? Why would you need a dedicated PC to accomplish this? Use a Linux-based thin client solution to provide an instant-on environment which is available to your employees from any free workstation. All the software is free, open, and easy to use and better yet, and has a lower total cost of ownership.
6. Reduce malware attacks
How much downtime and IT overhead go toward the battle with malware on your network? How much money would you save if I told you that you could reduce your malware attacks and IT overhead associated costs. Put your IT guys back to work creating innovative solutions for your business instead of triaging rogue PCs on your network.
5. Virtualization – Consolidation
The rise of CPU-based virtualization technology means that it is easier and cheaper to run multiple machines and services on a single hardware box. This has always been possible, ever since the first multi-user computers of the 60s, but it has never been cheaper or easier. Do you need a new Windows Server instance to provide a single application for a specific production problem? Fire up a virtual image inside of your robust redundant 64 bit Linux-based virtual host, configure Windows Server, test your app, and deploy it. You do not need new hardware. You do not need to take a trip to the server room. Win and win.
4. Get more from existing hardware (Server and Desktop)
On the Server: Do you need a
heavy duty mid-range server for your data center? Do you need more
than 4 gigabytes of RAM? If you are running Windows Server, then
that is going to cost you a bundle for upgrades and licenses for the
64 bit version. How many people will access it? That is going to
cost you seat licenses. Ouch. Stay away from all the licenses,
costs and restrictions and choose Linux and Open Source. With Linux
you can have that same server running a 64bit operating system and
software stack, accessing more than 4 gigabytes of RAM (32 gigabytes
makes for a very nice machine) for much less money. Did I mention
there are no seat licenses?
On the Desktop: Are you
buying new PCs only to find that they barely run Vista, or are you
forced to buy new machines to keep up with the requirements of the
newest software suite? Forget all that, and put Linux and Open
Source Software and open data formats on your existing hardware. You
have access to a modern multi-user, latest technology software,
running faster on your older hardware. You can squeeze three or more
additional years out of your hardware before you will need to
repurchase. When that time comes, maybe you will select more
economical and less exotic equipment to save money. You already know
it will work just fine.
3. Do not write your own software from scratch
You do not have the time or the money for this unless you are a software company. You should put most of your effort into producing your widget or providing your service. But you still need software, right?
Get your IT guys to investigate a high quality Open Source/Open Data solution, and adapt it to your business. You will own it just the same, but isn't it nice that you did not have pay for those thousands of man hours it took to write it? You will save money, keep from being locked in with a vendor, and have the exact features you require.
2. Do not pay for anti-virus
Use ClamAV at the server level to filter emails and webpages. Use Linux on the desktop and you will most likely never ever have to deal with data breaches, password theft, or lost data and downtime due to malicious viruses on your network. Not only is it easier to secure Linux, but its transparent development process makes for a quick turn around when problems are found. Here at Altamente, we happily go about our business without the distractions that plague other companies. It saves us time and money that we put toward development and other projects. In these tight economic times, is it not about time you to switched to Open Source/Open Data?
1. Use GPL'd Open Source Software
I am sure it was going to be obvious what my solution for the economic downturn might be. Use Open Source/Open Data. Do not pay for software. Pay for services, and make sure that there are companies competing for your service contracts. Keep your data in containers that you control. Make sure you can plug them into products you own (Open Source software). Save money on your hardware purchases. Keep your hardware for longer at the same performance level. Avoid wasted CPU cycles running anti-virus and anti-malware applications. Take full advantage of hardware virtualization technology. Take full advantage of today's 64bit multi-core processors. Use more memory more efficiently. Run your SQL database server on 64bit software with access to gobs of memory for less cost.
Save money – get better results.
Find out how Altamente can help you save 20% on your total IT expenditures in 2009. Call us at 314-787-8443 or 787-638-5380 or contact us here using this form.