Determining how to reduce IT infrastructure costs can be something of a conundrum. Doing more with less has become a way of life for IT professionals, but as the complexity of your technology environment continues to escalate, response options become more complex, too. “More” doesn’t just mean bigger data. It’s often a reflection of broader productivity expected of your IT infrastructure.

What to do? These five tips will help you consider how to reduce IT infrastructure costs. But know this: behind the multitude of options for cost-cutting lies the fact that they aren’t all equally appropriate for your enterprise. In Part 2 of this post, we’ll tackle how to reduce IT infrastructure costs the right way.

Consolidate.

Typically, about half of your networking costs go to your telecom provider. So if you have multiple locations or even many lines coming into a single facility, consolidation can save significant money. Likewise, consolidating data centers so you have fewer, larger ones rather than lots of smaller ones can also save money. In both cases, you’ll have less to pay for and less to manage.

Improving data center efficiency should also focus on reducing power costs. Review your contract and renegotiate, if necessary, to ensure you’re paying an appropriate but lowest possible rate.

Virtualize.

Gartner says virtualization can quadruple usage efficiency, and that could result in hardware and energy savings of 50% or more. You can apply both consolidation and virtualization to a variety of platforms, making them especially versatile options.

Virtualization can cost-effectively support creation a private cloud, by making use of resources already in place. That reduces capital needs. You can also lower costs and increase performance by grouping servers on hardware. Again, you’re maximizing the benefit your company derives from existing resources, giving you a higher return on investment while ensuring greater service elasticity.

Reorganize.

Remote monitoring, support and service enable IT staff to work faster and cheaper. Remote capabilities also assure your ability to smoothly integrate growing use of smartphones, tablets, etc., whether they’re company-owned or BYOD.

Seriously investigate how to reduce IT infrastructure costs by capturing efficiencies and lower costs associated with cloud computing. Among other things, moving data storage and disaster recovery to the cloud can help you save big on infrastructure and actually improve recovery capabilities. Moving at least some data center operations to the cloud reduces your power consumption, too.

 Hybridize.

Today’s IT marketplace is replete with options in terms of delivery solutions and providers, even pricing models. But you don’t have to simply pick one, you can create your own configuration, tailored so it aligns perfectly with your company’s functional and other requirements. You’ll be more cost-effective now, and you won’t be locked into an inflexible system you’ll soon grow out of.

Solutions aren’t about providers, they’re all about you, and you can turn that to financial advantage.

Optimize.

Spending less isn’t necessarily the most strategic response in and of itself. Instead, focus on getting maximum value from every dollar you do spend. “Optimize” is the new watchword when you’re considering how to reduce IT infrastructure costs. In essence, you’re taking a big-picture approach to evaluating cost-saving opportunities.

Prioritize opportunities that emphasize streamlining and asset management, because every little efficiency can boost your bottom line as well as make you more productive. Re-evaluate how you deliver support internally. Often this involves several tiers of expertise, so make sure you’re addressing problems at the least-cost level required for each job.  

Knowing where the opportunities lie to cut IT infrastructure expenses gives you a solid starting point. And the tips we’ve stressed here are certainly not your only options. But when it comes to zeroing in on the cost-cutting measures that will be most beneficial for your particular organization, your approach matters, too. In our next post, we’ll explore how to reduce IT infrastructure costs the right way.