ANTenna Blog -- Business & E-Business

The more productivity that business owners can wring from every dime they spend eases the pressure to cut costs, staff, and projects. Check out these 7 ways to boost your IT output without increasing spending -- and even reducing it.

According Irvine, Calif-based research and consulting firm, Computer Economics, IT spending was waning before the current economic crisis -- median IT spending declined 6.2% -- but tightening credit and slack spending across the economy only increased the pressure to do more with less -- and the IT department is often a prime target for cost cutting. mindSHIFT Technologies, the Waltham, Mass.-based MSP, recently suggested several strategies for cutting IT costs that won't cripple your IT department of reduce your business capabilities (and erode your competitive advantage). Here are mindSHIFT's six strategies:

1. Implement strategic new technologies that will reduce costs, such as VoIP, software-as-a-service, and virtualization.
2. Employ integrated systems that help collect payment from customers.
3. Ensure stability for all customer-facing applications.
4. Take measures for green IT to help reduce costs.
5. Invest in strategic initiatives that deliver competitive advantage that will propel your company ahead of the competition as the recession lifts.
6. Retain good employees because it will be more costly to replace highly-skilled and knowledgeable workers later.

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