It has always made sense to save money and be sparing with resources, but the credit crunch makes this more prudent than ever. Whether your organisation is large or small there are tangible savings that can be made, and here’s how:

- Save electricity- turn off your monitor when you are away from your desk, and turn PC’s off at night. A PC uses £200 of power per year.

- Staff productivity- block staff from using popular but very un-productive websites such as Facebook, Ebay, You Tube. Most Routers have this ability.

- Reduce your printer toner costs- don’t buy your printer toner from your traditional stationery supplier- hunt around on the internet

 - Print less & re-use the scrap paper.

 - Print in mono- very little must be in colour. Change the default settings so everything is mono naturally.

 - Ensure your Anti-Virus is up date - virus removal can be expensive

 - Review your Broadband costs- BT contracts only last 12 months- ask for a discount if you renew.

 - Ensure you have a Back Up policy for data. Loss of data is expensive to recover and 80% of companies never fully recover after total data loss.

 - Update systems- a new computer will be faster and cheaper to run and could well pay for itself within months

 - Consider VOIP telephone calls or Skype to get free telephone calls between you and home or a branch. Most Routers have this facility built in.

These are medium to short-term solutions, and there are longer terms that will reduce costs. One important factor is how much capital expenditure you make. With IT systems this can also be reduced, and the total cost ownership decreased with IT leasing. In the coming year, if you have a requirement to upgrade your hardware or expand your office machines consider computer leasing, you may be surprised at the benefits.