With the smell of a severe downturn in the air, it's time to consider
how to save money on your technology.
A few years back, the answer was easy as computers were largely a luxury
so it was a simple matter of not using or buying them. Today IT is a
necessity for business and a vital part of many households.
Given that, here's some ideas on making your computers less painful
on the wallet.
Computing in
tough times
There's the smell of recession
in the air and when money gets tight, computer spending is usually the
first thing to get cut. This usually isn't necessary and for businesses
can actually be a mistake.
It's possible to cut spending
without compromising your systems, here's some quick ideas.
Turn the things
off
It's so simple, yet so many
people don't do it. In an office environment simply turning your computer
off when it's not in use can save over 75% of energy costs.
Another simple trick is to
turn off peripherals like scanners and printers when the computer isn't
in use. Most modern peripherals go into sleep mode when they aren't
in use, meaning they could be using power for days without being used.
We recommend plugging all
your peripherals into a surge protected power board with an on/off switch
making it easy to turn them off when you don't need them.
Stop printing
The paperless office is still
largely a myth. But that doesn't excuse you from minimising the amount
of paper you use. It's estimated the average office worker uses 50kg
of paper a year.
Cutting that by 50% saves
ten reams of paper a year, at least $50 a year or 5000 pages. The cost
of power and consumables at least double this.
For households with inkjet
printers, the cost of consumables is even more. Reducing the use of
these helps the environment and saves costs.
Review contracts
Internet and mobile phone
costs have plummeted in recent years. If you haven't shopped around
on what you're paying for your plan then you are probably paying too
much.
We've seen people save over
$1,000 a year simply by calling their Internet provider.Our page on
choosing an Internet Service
Provider has more details on the questions you should be asking.
Clean up your computers
If your computer is running slow a cleanup might be in order. Our IT
Queries website has instructions on doing
it yourself or you can call
one of our technicians.
