By: John Shepler
Businesses are facing a challenging time as they grapple with the fluctuating economic landscape brought on by the Covid-19 crisis. While growth was once the primary focus, survival has now taken center stage, making cost control paramount. Let’s explore some immediate steps you can take to reduce expenses without jeopardizing operations.
Are You Paying For Unused Services?
It might seem improbable, but both individuals and businesses frequently pay for services they don’t utilize.
Grab your phone bill, some pens, and highlighters. Scrutinize each line item with the meticulousness of a prospector searching for gold. Your goal is to uncover expenses that no longer provide value.
Do you still use every phone line connected to your business? How about lines going to former office spaces now used for storage? Fax lines no longer connected to functioning machines? Obsolete burglar alarm lines or extension phones? What about unused data lines?
Next, examine your mobile phone plan. Every line should correspond to an active employee. Are there remnants of lines from former employees that haven’t been reassigned? What about features no one utilizes?
Every line, feature, and device should have a designated purpose and ideally be in use. Contact your carrier and eliminate anything that’s no longer necessary.
The same principle applies to rented equipment. If you’re not using it, return it to stop unnecessary expenses. You can always reacquire these resources when business picks up again.
During your review, you likely uncovered a collection of forgotten equipment: routers, switches, PCs, phones, adapters, and maybe even boxes of software. Consider having someone who isn’t otherwise occupied explore selling these items online. While some might hold little value and are best recycled, selling anything that justifies the time and shipping costs could generate unexpected income, potentially even becoming an ongoing responsibility.
Reduce Expenses Without Sacrificing Value
It’s likely you’re overpaying for your telecom services. Deregulation and increased competition have steadily driven down bandwidth costs. Perhaps you’re nearing the end of a three-year contract or are on a month-to-month plan after one expired. Evaluating your required line count and performance needs and then obtaining competitive price quotes can yield significant savings.
While still prevalent, T1 lines are available at a fraction of their cost a decade ago. The fiber optic services, from DS3 (45 Mbps) and OCx to 10 Gbps and beyond, are progressively being replaced with Carrier Ethernet. This newer technology offers better compatibility with modern equipment, scalable bandwidth, and significantly lower costs. Although fiber is currently dominant, Ethernet over Copper and wireless services provide alternatives. Similarly, MPLS networks offer a more cost-effective solution compared to multiple point-to-point lines. SD-WAN is now emerging as a replacement for MPLS, promising even greater cost reductions.
Navigating these options can feel overwhelming, so consider partnering with a reputable master agency that has established relationships with numerous suppliers. A knowledgeable agent can gather multiple quotes and help you determine the most suitable choices for your specific circumstances.
Embrace Pay-As-You-Go Instead of Large Investments
The cloud’s increasing prevalence is no accident. We’ve evolved beyond the era where every business needs dedicated telecom and server rooms. The cloud eliminates this need by acting as a centralized data center with a dedicated staff responsible for maintenance. You can focus on your core business while they manage the ever-evolving infrastructure. Cloud centers often provide cybersecurity services as well, staying current on emerging threats.
Moving to the cloud offers two primary benefits: it eliminates capital expenditures (capex) and enables a pay-as-you-go (opex) model. This flexibility is invaluable in today’s fluctuating business environment, allowing you to quickly scale resources up or down as needed.
Don’t overlook the importance of scalable bandwidth. Opting for a fiber optic service with a GigE or 10GigE port gives you the flexibility to utilize any bandwidth level and pay only for what you use. Some services even allow instant online upgrades and downgrades. This dynamic approach stands in stark contrast to the inflexible telco circuits of the past.
If you’re navigating the challenges of adapting to the current business landscape and concerned about managing costs, don’t let networking and telecom expenses hold you back. Request competitive quotes and seek expert advice today to start minimizing your expenses immediately.
