As businesses slowly recover from the pandemic, it is an excellent time to reevaluate your technology expenses and find ways to recuperate from the sudden costs of dealing with urgency and crisis during the last 12 months. Mainly by providing additional technologies to accommodate Work From Home for the employees and the management. The reality is businesses in 2021 will continue having their challenges dealing with the technology. We will have a hybrid workforce using home and office to work from. Our demand for internet bandwidth will continue to grow, and more video conferencing and collaborative services will be in-demand. Therefore, it behooves the business owners to conduct a technology audit.
If your organization is familiar with or performs regular technology audit (at least once a year), you know its benefits. But if you have not done an audit ever or recently, it is time to do it. You may find out that services that you have not been using or needing to use as much, but you still pay the total amount. Also, maybe because of the WFH shift, you no longer need them. Or, at the beginning of the pandemic, you signed up for a service that is way beyond your current need.
Most of the technology companies and service providers offer you long-term plans that lock you in long-term contracts. But are these contracts are still viable and needed?
You may think a technology audit is cumbersome and time-consuming and creates an opportunity for your IT vendor to upsell you. But the process of audit in many ways is simple and follows a methodical path:
- You start by doing a little bit of homework and finding out what you have and how much it costs? Create a detailed report of all of your IT expenses accommodated by the corresponding contracts, licenses, etc.
- Find when each contract expires, terms and conditions, and penalty of early cancellation or reduce the service’s size.
- Find out if you need that service or you can do without it. Or can it be upgraded for better technology, for example, a fax line to eFax service or Analog lines to VOIP.
- Find out if there are bundling offers the services. You can bundle phone and internet.
- Find out if the services you use are in compliance, are secure and protective of your digital assets.
- Find out how the best IT consultant can help you identify unnecessary expenses and negotiate the best terms. A good consultant could provide greater visibility into the ongoing costs. Also, he or she can provide insights into technology trends that might help your business.
Technology audit brings many positive results to an organization. It should be done regularly, at least once a year. It will get easier if you have a reference point, and you can compare it to the previous years. It isn’t effortless if you try to do it yourself. Engaging with an experienced IT consulting company can help guide you in the planning for current requirements and the design of contingencies for future challenges.
Contact us today at 818-501-2281 or info@ceocomputers.com to help you out with your IT needs. CEO Computers is a trusted name in the local community and has gained that reputation by providing quality, dependability, and a robust IT support system. Our IT Services include remote IT support, Cloud Migration, Azure Migration, Cyber Security support, Backup, and Recovery.
