Robust cybersecurity can be affordable, but it requires reducing IT costs the right way. And it also depends on how you define “robust” and “inexpensive.”
If you mean cybersecurity measures that can effectively keep a business protected against all common threats while costing less than what most businesses of the same size spend on cybersecurity, then the answer is: yes, robust cybersecurity can, indeed, be inexpensive.
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How Robust Cybersecurity Can Be Affordable
Robust cybersecurity is more about people and processes than it is about expensive software. In fact, it’s better to implement a few carefully selected security technologies than a whole host of them, without giving much thought to how they complement one another.
As long as reducing IT costs doesn’t prevent the IT department from getting the fundamentals of basic cybersecurity right, the overall cybersecurity posture of the business should remain equally strong.
Preparing a Budget to Avoid Surprise IT Costs
Anyone who has been on a road trip knows that it’s always cheaper to pack food and other necessities from home than it is to buy them along the way. Unfortunately, many decision makers act as if this wasn’t the case when preparing their IT budgets.
Instead of carefully analyzing how much it will cost to reach a certain destination (such as make it possible for employees to work remotely or move data to cloud storage) and adjusting their budgets accordingly, they only see the current costs.
That’s a problem because it costs much less money to simply keep the lights on than it does to, for example, replace incandescent light bulbs with modern LEDs—or outdated desktop computers with hybrid work-friendly laptops. You get the idea.
5 Ways to Reduce IT Costs Without Compromising Cybersecurity
All businesses today rely on information technology to operate at peak efficiency. So, simply starving IT departments of financial resources to make it through trying times is not an option.
Instead, businesses should explore the following ways to reduce IT costs without compromising cybersecurity and, consequently, their competitiveness.
1. Embrace Software Inventory Management
Software licenses represent a substantial portion of the overall IT expenditure of most businesses, and the goal of software inventory management is to track their use within an IT environment and calculate their financial impact. We take care of this for our Managed Services clients.
Even small businesses with just a few employees often spend money on software they no longer use or don’t actually need. Such businesses can save a lot by keeping a record of the quantity of software or applications installed, and they can also avoid hefty non-compliance fines that often await those who forget to review their licenses and let them expire.
2. Consider Open-source Software
It’s not uncommon for businesses to pay for the same software applications for years on end without ever considering cheaper alternatives. More specifically, they don’t consider open-source software, which typically eliminates licensing costs while delivering similar functionality.
Of course, not every software application can or should be replaced by an open-source alternative, but there are many open-source solutions, such as Odoo, Dolibarr, or LibreOffice, that have proven themselves to be worthy alternatives to their proprietary counterparts.
Open-source software is not inherently more or less secure than proprietary software because the fact that there are many eyes reviewing the code is outweighed by the very real possibility that some of those eyes may have malicious intentions.
3. Move to the Cloud
Cloud technology is certainly not a buzzword anymore, and most business owners are already familiar with its benefits, which include improved business continuity, greater scalability, collaboration efficiency, and flexibility of work practices, just to give some examples.
But just because business owners have heard about the numerous benefits of the cloud doesn’t mean they have embraced it to cut down their IT costs. In fact, one survey of small and medium-sized businesses’ cloud computing strategy revealed that there are still around 10 percent of SMBs with no cloud strategy whatsoever.
Such businesses are spending substantial amounts of money on physical hardware that requires constant maintenance and is guaranteed to become obsolete in just a few years. By moving at least some systems and data to the cloud, reducing IT costs is possible for SMBs without compromising cybersecurity.
4. Use Less Expensive Hardware
As unfortunate as it may be, all hardware devices have a limited lifespan, but the value for money they provide can be vastly different. When the time comes to replace current hardware, it’s always a good idea to research all available options and consider if it’s worth paying extra for the premium one.
Businesses can equip their employees with budget Windows laptops and PCs, but it’s important that they diligently consider the long-term financial consequences of any budget purchase. For example, IBM is more than happy to spend extra on Macs because the company says its Apple devices save IT time and money over time since they generate less customer support tickets, last longer, and are less likely to experience a malware infection.
5. Outsource to a Managed Service Provider (MSP)
Even large enterprises with vast resources don’t do everything in-house, and neither should SMBs. By partnering with an experienced managed services provider, small businesses can enjoy access to the same first-class technologies and expertise as the largest players in the industry.
Although cost efficiency is perhaps the most common reason to consider a partnership with an MSP, followed by convenience, there are many other important reasons to keep in mind, such as:
- Access to top talent
- Improved flexibility and scalability
- 24/7 incident response management
Should a crisis arise, the business that has partnered with an MSP can maintain focus on core activities and let the MSP handle the situation, whereas the business that has decided against a partnership with an MSP has to shut down operations and deal with the problem first.
For these and other reasons, a partnership with an MSP is always a great choice when it comes to reducing IT costs without compromising cybersecurity. If you’re interested in managed IT services in the Minneapolis or Washington DC metro areas, then you should contact us at Teal and let us help you tame your IT budget.
All-In-All Reducing IT Costs Is Possible
Many businesses are forced to dramatically reduce their IT costs, which leaves many worrying about their cybersecurity. Robust cybersecurity can be affordable, but it requires the careful reduction of IT costs, such as by partnering with a managed services provider and borrowing its experience and cost-efficient processes.
To learn more about how our managed IT services can help you reduce costs and keep your business secure, schedule a free consultation to speak with one of our IT experts.
