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Five Outside-the-Box Ways to Cut IT Costs

Tough choices lie ahead for IT departments. Get ahead of the curve with five cost-cutting tactics designed to hurt less

 

October 14, 2008InfoWorld

Every time the economy turns downward, IT shops take a hit.

In the U.S. IT market, Forrester Research predicts that growth in technology goods and services will slow in the fourth quarter of this year, a scenario likely to continue into the first half of 2009. Gartner, meanwhile, is advising clients to hedge, rather than presuming the economy will pick up next year.

The best time to consider cost-saving measures is before the CFO comes knocking on your door to ask -- or demand -- that IT slash its budget.

[ Read the InfoWorld features "Is IT recession-proof?" and "Guerilla IT: How to stop worrying and learn to love your superusers." ]

"Are we trying to cut IT costs? Yes," says Jon Crowe, director of enterprise technology services at Cabela's, an outdoor equipment retailer. "We're sitting down and thinking how we can be smart about it."

Indeed, several IT execs InfoWorld interviewed for this story are looking to ferret out simple, and often surprising, ways to save money during tight times.

1. Harness consumer technologies
Plenty of IT shops are wrestling with how -- or whether -- to fit consumer and Web 2.0 technologies into the enterprise, says Peter Blatman, a principal in Deloitte Consulting. But some are already making it work to their advantage.

Vivek Kundra, the CTO of the District of Columbia, recalls the day he had an epiphany: The technology most users employ at work is kludgy compared to what they use in their daily routines, even though consumer technologies are often less expensive or even free. "It comes down to a philosophical view I have that, for some weird reason I cannot understand, the way we organize ourselves at work is so much less agile than what we do in our personal lives," Kundra explains. "Why not use consumer technology at work?"

That's exactly what Kundra did. "We were spending a ton of money on our portal, and I realized we didn't need to," he adds. So Kundra abandoned the portal and replaced it with considerably less expensive wikis and turned to YouTube videos. Kundra said the moves were relatively easy because IT did not have to train employees how to use the tools.

Echoing those sentiments is Greg Rhoades, senior IT manager of infrastructure services at Panera Bread. Rhoades says his company is also moving toward consumer technologies. "We're taking some steps in that direction. We're also looking at social networking tools because people use them in their personal lives, and we want to leverage the technologies that people already know how to use."

 
 
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WHITE PAPERS

The Future of Financial Reporting

Finance and accounting executives must understand, adapt to, and manage the costs associated with changes: and doing so opens an opportunity to leverage this shift to better position their companies in the eyes of the investment community.
 

Reduce IT Costs to Achieve Better Business Results

A "Must Read" for CIOs, CFOs, and anyone involved in IT Budgeting.
 

Delivering Quality IT Services Through an Economic Downturn

Download this paper to discover the strategies CIOs are putting in place now and in the next five years to deliver quality IT services.
 

Improve Budgeting and Forecasting Accuracy

Learn how IT can better understand the fully-loaded cost of IT services and provide accurate, activity-based allocation policies.
 

The Convergence of IT and Facilities

If IT and Facilities could work collaboratively, organizations can operate more efficiently and effectively...
 

The Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT PPM Applications

This report evaluates 19 vendors on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.
 

WEBCASTS

Three IT Strategies You Need to Beat the Competition

Right now, your competitors are slashing their IT budgets - indiscriminately. Don't make hasty cost reductions. When the economy recovers, ensure your IT department is poised for growth.
 

Managing Client Systems in the Enterprise

Keeping client systems costs under control is just one of the many initiatives IT must address when trying to manag...
 

BMC Service Assurance Demo

What if you could predict disruptive IT events and automate their resolution -- all before they disrupt your busine...
 

BMC Service Automation Demo

BMC Service Automation automates repetitive, manual tasks (such as provisioning, patching and compliance) to reduce...
 

BMC Application Performance and Analytics: Predictive Intelligence in Action

See the highlights of BMC's Application Performance and Analytics; a predictive, resourceful and intelligent soluti...
 

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Listen to this conversation with Doug Mueller to learn how standards and processes have evolved to bring us the ser...
 

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