The current economic climate has burdened organisations across all sectors with considerable challenges. Although inflation is falling, interest rates remain high and will stay high for some time. In response to these tough market conditions, CIOs and CFOs must make some hard decisions, including cutbacks to IT budgets and department headcounts. Understanding how to maximise available resources is vital as IT leaders navigate this uncomfortable shift. This article will explore how organisations can optimise their IT systems to reduce costs without sacrificing capability.
Downsizing: Budgets and Head Counts Shrink
A global economic slowdown has created a challenging environment for organisations worldwide. A report by Vanta found that 21% of companies have reduced their IT staff headcount, and 62% have already reduced IT budgets or plan to reduce them as they continue to grapple with the current state of the economy. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. During this period of economic difficulty, technological advancements have helped firms optimise processes to bridge some of the gaps.
Pressure Brings Opportunities to Leverage Technology
Leveraging technology provides a lifeline for struggling businesses striving to optimise costs without sacrificing quality and efficiency.
Cloud adoption
Migrating to cloud platforms can cut expenses for inefficient legacy systems and resource-intensive physical infrastructure. The scalable cloud pay-as-you-go model allows your firm to pay for the most suitable subscription, leading to cost savings that can be invested elsewhere. If you’re already a cloud user, there may be additional cost savings waiting to be realised, as there are steps you can take to reduce cloud bills. For example, identifying unused resources, conducting regular audits and choosing the right storage size will help you decrease unnecessary costs. To learn more about cloud migration, we recommend reading our article on making cloud migration manageable.
AI and automation
As AI continues to advance, IT teams can increasingly automate routine tasks to free up time to focus on other activities, boosting overall department productivity and task efficiency. With one survey revealing that 30% of IT leaders spend 6 to 10 hours per week on manual data entry and analysis, it’s clear that automation will be a significant time-saver for organisations across the board. Additionally, teams can reduce instances of human error, which can be costly for businesses. Some human errors may seem small and insignificant, but the cost of these little errors quickly adds up.
Task automation and a significant reduction in human error will save businesses a surprising amount of money, but that’s not all AI can do for IT teams. It can also aid capacity planning by mapping out the right configuration of servers and virtual machines, monitoring storage resources for optimum utilisation and performance, and automatically preparing storage proactively using predictive analytics capabilities. While AI holds much promise, organisations may find themselves battling with a bottleneck: a lack of training on augmenting processes with AI.
Investing in training and upskilling
Cost optimisation is not only confined to technology and processes—it must also include people. IT leaders are under pressure to do more with less, and by creating IT departments that prioritise training and skill development, organisations can give themselves the tools to optimise costs. Giving employees access to cloud computing, automation, and cybersecurity training will keep them engaged and give them the tools to make cost optimisation improvements.
The results of effective upskilling initiatives are impressive. For example, one survey found that 81% of tech managers say their organisation's upskilling programs are highly effective in preparing their employees for new projects, and 85% say they are confident that their teams have the skills they need to deliver high-quality work on time.
Transition to DevOps
Last but by no means least, embracing the DevOps approach will help IT teams do more with less. For example, more streamlined workflows mean that fewer resources are required for development and operations tasks, leading to significant cost savings. Additionally, by creating a culture of continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), DevOps allows the software teams to get to market much faster, creating more revenue. Taking down the barriers between development and operations teams also allows for more effective collaboration, leading to more efficient resource usage and a sense of shared responsibility for project outcomes.
There are many benefits associated with adopting a DevOps approach, but we understand that transitioning to a new way of working doesn’t happen overnight. Evolvere works with you, whatever your level of DevOps maturity, to achieve your goals. We can build proof of concept systems to your specifications, drawing on our experience to make recommendations on best practices and design. If you would like to learn more about our DevOps services, please don’t hesitate to contact the Evolvere team.
Final Thoughts: IT Cost Optimisation Strategies
The current economic climate requires a strategic approach to IT cost optimisation. As we’ve highlighted, there are several ways organisations can approach cost optimisation, such as leaning more on AI and automation, moving to the cloud and adopting a DevOps approach. However, it’s important to recognise that these strategies take time to come to fruition. But when they do, they result in significant cost savings, allowing IT teams to work to their strengths.