IT costs breaking the bank? It’s no secret that technology can be costly. Fear not! Here are 7 money saving tech tips from Leap Cloud Solutions™ to help your business thrive.

1. Get your head in the cloud

Moving to the cloud can save you a lot of money. By converting your annual software expenses into a monthly fee, you don’t have to worry about:

Paying for upgrades
Security updates
Overpaying for extra licenses that you don’t use

On top of this, the cloud is more reliable & scalable than running on-premise. And, you’ll save money on taxes by converting expensive annual upgrades from Capital Expenses (CAPEX) to Operating Expenses (OPEX). What’s not to like?

Cloud IT Services Vancouver — Moving your small business IT infrastructure to the cloud can save you money

2. Use FOSS (Free Open Source Software)

Unlike commercial offerings, Free Open Source Software (FOSS) is software developed for the community, by the community. This makes it a great alternative for small businesses & nonprofits on a tight budget.

Examples of Open Source software include:

Ubuntu Linux (a free operating system which performs similar functions to Mac OSX and Microsoft Windows)
LibreOffice (a free office suite that can open, edit & save Microsoft documents)
GIMP (a free image manipulation program with similar capabilities to Adobe Photoshop).

Note: Although open source software is often associated with Linux operating systems, many of these apps are available for Windows, Mac & Linux as well.

*Note: Make sure the free software you choose for your business is licensed for commercial use.

Open source software gives freedom to small businesses & non-profits on a budget

3. Don’t buy – lease instead

Consider leasing computer equipment such as:

Servers
Laptops & Desktops
Copier machines

to save money on expensive repairs & upgrades.

Also:

– Like cloud software, converting your Capital Expenses to an Operating Expense will save money on taxes.

– Like leasing a car (depending on the terms), some leases give you the option to purchase your equipment for a discount at the end of the term.

tech support Vancouver — Leasing your IT equipment means saving money on repairs + you’ll always have the right tools for the job

4. Go paperless

Going paperless isn’t just about saving trees: it can save your business a lot of money.

Consider the costs of maintaining printers – all that ink / toner, fusers, rollers + all sorts of things that can + do go wrong.

Then, there’s having to upgrade those printers every few years to keep up with advances in tech.

Still, if your business can’t do without, there’s no harm in saving money by scaling back on printing as much as possible.

Consider going paperless – it’s easier on the environment and on your wallet!

5. Scale down your brick and mortar

Technology today makes it easier than ever to work from the palm of your hand.

Better still, modern tech makes it possible to work remotely.
Depending on your business, you can save a lot of money on expensive office space by allowing your team to work from home.

You could also re-purpose that space for something else:

Expand your storage capacity
Hire more people who need to be present all the time (manufacturing jobs, for example)
Sublet your unused space to another company
Co-working is trendy, and anyone can do it. Why not rent out your space!

Scaling down on brick and mortar can save & even generate money for your business

6. Plan ahead

You know the old cliché: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

This holds doubly-true when it comes to tech. Because tech changes so quickly, you run the risk of getting left behind. Make sure you start planning your upgrades five years in advance.

Also: don’t get stuck in some proprietary custom solution. The last thing you want is to pay a fortune for a freelancer to reverse-engineer your critical line-of-business app when the company who designed it vanishes. And that’s if you can find someone with the skills to do it.