South African businesses need to run a tight ship to remain competitive in today’s tough economy. Strategic use of technology can help to cut operating costs while boosting productivity and enhancing collaboration. Here are five proven ways to save money using the right tech tools and services.
- Tap into solar to beat rising electricity prices
Over the past decade, the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has dropped dramatically, making solar a viable option for businesses of all sizes. Solar energy offers your business the triple benefit of predictable cost savings, more reliable power, and lower carbon emissions. With South Africa’s plentiful sunshine, you can generate a lot of the electricity you need from solar power to beat rising utility costs. If you invest in battery storage, you can use your solar system as a backup when there’s a power outage.
- Digitise paper to cut waste and boost productivity
Many businesses still rely on paper-based processes that are slow, inefficient, and expensive. Today’s document management solutions enable you to become more efficient and productive by moving to digital workflows. Digitising paper eliminates the need for physical storage, enables faster document retrieval, and improves collaboration. Features like intelligent data capture and automated approvals help reduce manual tasks and errors. You can achieve significant cost savings by reducing the printing bill alone.
- Take control of print costs with print management
Print management software gives you the tools and insights you need to manage your print and copy environment more effectively. You can monitor usage, enforce print policies, and track costs down to individual users or departments. Cost recovery solutions help you allocate print costs accurately, identify inefficiencies, and bill internal or external clients correctly. These capabilities help to eliminate wastage in printing, creating savings that drop to the bottom line.
- Use service plans to reduce downtime and maintenance costs
Technology should be a business enabler, not a burden. But unpredictable service costs and maintenance requirements can quickly become an expensive distraction. Service plans are a great way to keep your office technology running smoothly without unpredictable repair bills. Over time, businesses that use service plans see significant cost savings from reduced downtime and extended equipment life.
- Simplify IT with cloud-based solutions
Managing servers and IT infrastructure in-house is expensive and time-consuming. Cloud technologies remove that burden while giving you more flexibility and scalability. Fully managed, serverless cloud solutions allow you to store, access, and secure your data without the need for your own data centre hardware. You can scale up or down as needed, pay only for what you use, and reduce downtime. Combined with cloud backup and disaster recovery, this enables your business to stay operational when the unexpected happens.