4 Ways to Trim Your IT Budget

E-mail trouble is the most common reason employees flag down the IT team. An in-house e-mail system requires a robust server. And floods of spam and system crashes can consume hours of technicians' time. Estimates put the monthly cost of maintaining an internal mail server -- including license fees, bandwidth, upgrades, and the staff to run it -- at as much as $50 per employee. That's why many businesses are switching to hosted options from companies such as BlueTie, FuseMail, Everyone.net, and Mailtrust, which can cost as little as $1 to $15 a month per user. Many offer hosted Microsoft Exchange servers so you don't have to get used to a new program, or they offer Web-based programs that look similar to Microsoft Outlook. Most provide around-the-clock customer support.

Whether you call it software on demand or software as a service, the idea is the same: You use software on the Web instead of installing it on your hard drives, and you pay as you go. Salesforce.com and NetSuite led the way with hosted customer relationship management services, but now all sorts of software makers are offering hosted versions of their programs. Even Microsoft, the king of packaged software, has recently taken baby steps toward offering hosted versions of its software, including Office Live Workspace, which allows users to share and view Microsoft Office documents online. (Of course, to edit documents, users must have Office installed on their computers.) Using hosted software saves companies both a hefty up-front license fee and the cost of having techies install and troubleshoot programs. Plus, companies can easily cut back or increase the number of users as needed.

Another hefty expense and technician time-suck is the company phone system. Instead of plunking down several thousand dollars for an internal phone system -- also known as a private branch exchange, or PBX -- some small and midsize companies are opting for so-called virtual PBX services.
These phone providers, such as GotVMail, RingCentral, Packet8, Virtual-PBX, and many others, offer hosted phone systems that don't require installing or maintaining equipment. For a monthly fee of about $2 to $15 per extension, companies get an internal phone system with a main number, voice mail, and free internal calling. Incoming calls to an extension can be routed to a landline, VoIP phone, or cell phone. Because the equipment is managed off-site by the virtual PBX service, companies avoid paying a staff technician. However, many of the services are geared toward companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Some virtual PBX providers, such as Junction Networks and CallTower, also offer hosted VoIP plans that can lower long-distance bills without the cost of installing and managing an internal VoIP system.

A full-time IT staff doesn't come cheaply, especially when you need skills like programming and network maintenance. Salaries for a senior IT manager average about $91,000, according to a survey by Global Knowledge, an IT training company. Some businesses are ditching their IT departments in favor of outsourced teams. Rather than bill by the hour like traditional consultants, managed service providers often charge a fixed monthly fee, which helps companies better plan their budgets. The downside of working with an outside firm, however, is that you will have to go through a customer service chain to log a problem or request an upgrade. You may also need to wait to get an appointment for an on-site visit. On the other hand, you will have someone monitoring your systems 24/7 to head off problems.