IT and Data Center Cost Reduction

As organizations prepare for cloud and digital transformation initiatives, focusing on IT and data center cost reduction is crucial. According to Gartner, data center consolidation efforts can save organizations between 10 and 20 percent of their data center budget. Evaluating your data center inventory for retirement candidates can better define your list of applications for cloud migration and provide immediate cost-saving opportunities.

CTM recently helped a client save approximately three million dollars annually in lease costs as part of a multi-year cloud transformation effort. They needed to reduce data center costs through consolidation and retirement to fund their cloud transformation program.

We encountered four scenarios:

1. Unused Data Center Assets: Some data center assets were not in use, and the IT Infrastructure teams were either unaware of them or unfamiliar with the contractual agreements. It's essential for technical management to proactively partner with financial teams to manage hardware and data center contracts. By reviewing upcoming renewals with the technical teams, we eliminated maintenance renewals, lease agreements, and reduced colocation space. Full decommissioning of all related components is critical for full cost savings.


2. Available Capacity in Assets: Some assets had available capacity, allowing for system migration and hardware consolidation. CTM identified solutions to transparently migrate data, such as moving service profiles from one UCS blade to another for a quick, non-business-impacting hardware exit. Consolidating underutilized server storage arrays provided substantial savings, and we ensured proper decommissioning steps, including data erasure and asset return.


3. Cost-Effective Alternatives to Hardware Leases: Instead of renewing some hardware leases, we leveraged more cost-effective options. Migrating archived unstructured data to Azure Blob and Box enabled the decommissioning of expensive leased hardware, resulting in significant annual savings.


4. Incomplete Hardware Upgrades: In some instances, hardware for upgrades had been purchased, but migration to the new hardware was incomplete. This required coordination with application teams and the business. CTM has the technical expertise to coordinate between infrastructure and application teams to execute key cross-company changes, resulting in significant savings.

If your organization lacks the funding for a cloud migration, as Gartner recommends, "get cloud ready and use what you've got, but do it better, by increasing utilization and efficiency." Consolidate your data center footprint, better utilize existing assets, and decommission systems and applications no longer in use. Use your cost savings to subsidize the start of a cloud program.

CTM Technology Group can help your organization achieve immediate cost savings to aid in funding a Cloud Transformation initiative. Download our Data Center Cost Savings Checklist or contact us for a consultation.

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