10 Ways waste money

10 ways IT departments waste money
By Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP (Enterprise Security)

Version 1.0 June 9, 2009

Back in the golden days of IT, when companies had plenty of money to throw around, it didn’t matter so much if there was a little wastage here and there. Today, however, budgets are tight and there aren’t many dollars to spare. That means IT departments need to take a good, hard look at where the money is going and where cuts can be made -- before someone higher up does it for you. In this article, we look at 10 ways you might be letting precious dollars slip right through your fingers. Some of these may seem to be just common sense, but there are organizations out there right now that are wasting money in all these ways.

1

Wasting energy

Despite some reduction in power costs over the last year, rates appear to be headed back up. The electric bill is still a large expense for most companies -- and the IT department is a big user of energy. You can save more money than you might suspect by adopting some energy-saving policies. Sure, most of the servers need to be accessible all the time. But IT personnel are often careless about leaving workstations running when they aren't doing anything and won't be accessed remotely or substituting the use of a screensaver for turning off the monitor (you should do both). With the power settings available in modern operating systems, there's really no excuse for it, but some IT pros turn off power-saving features in favor of higher performance. How about the practice of leaving lights on in offices and server rooms when no one is there? Most people don't think about the cost, but it can add up. Using more energy-efficient lighting and buying Energy Star rated equipment can also save big bucks over the long run.

2

Spending too much on mobile technology

Mobile phones and devices are "fun toys" for IT pros, but company-provided equipment and plans may be costing more than necessary. A recent