13 Ways to Cut IT Costs Now - WAN Optimization, Restructure IT Tasks
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3. WAN Optimization
Bandwidth may be an unavoidable fixed cost, but you can keep
it from ballooning as business bandwidth needs multiply through the greater use
of collaboration tools such as video conferencing. Effective use of WAN
optimization can help cut down bandwidth from anywhere between one and three
fold of your unoptimized network.
The IT professionals at Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer and
Associates (GASAI), an engineering and architectural firm based in Milwaukee,
WI, was able to do just that with its WAN
optimization deployment, reducing bandwidth by about 270 percent. Not only did
that keep costs down, but it also enabled the business to drastically cut down
on its travel budget by replacing some face-to-face meetings with bandwidth
intensive collaboration tools. Check out Baseline’s case
study of GASAI’s deployment.
4. Restructure Responsibilities
If it seems like your systems management costs have gotten
out of control, it may be time for a restructuring of your org chart. Often
times, the operations hierarchy is several years behind the way the technology
is actually deployed. Sounds like it's time for an new alignment with cost-cutting and resource-saving technologies like virtualization.
“IT structure has got to be adaptable to change as the
technology is changing,” says Illsley.
For more tips on making IT operations teams more efficient,
check out Illsley’s advice on streamlining systems management.
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