Government grants for businesses are always welcome, but here are some cost-effective ways for organizations to cut costs without cutting corners
Businesses in the region that are on the brink of post-pandemic recovery are now facing yet another hurdle: they have to find ways to stay buoyant. The recent layoffs in major industries are only fueling fears of a looming recession.
In Singapore, the government has rolled out new initiatives to mitigate cost-of-living issues, including tax deductions for business innovation and research-and-development activities. Additionally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has pledged its support to address the adverse impact of recent bank mergers.
While other governments in the region will also be expected to lend their support to organizations amid economic headwinds, simply relooking existing infrastructure and rejigging value chains can allow businesses to cut costs, without cutting corners.
Generating savings with technology investments
Contrary to popular belief, modernizing IT infrastructure need not be expensive.
There are grants and schemes for digital adoption, capability development, and training to support businesses with limited budgets. But apart from availing of government grants and schemes, another way for businesses to reap the benefits of technology without the risk of overinvestment is to adopt ‘as-a-service models’, which offer greater financial flexibility as businesses are not tied to capital assets.
Shifting to pay-as-you-grow and subscription-based models allows organizations to pay for only the amount of services they consume, translating to significant cost savings.
When it comes to reducing operating expenses in today’s data-centric economy, data storage also matters. All-flash storage promises lower physical storage costs and a reduced data footprint, offering a sustainable alternative to high-energy-consuming hybrid systems. Additionally, the all-flash model allows organizations to curtail fully burdened costs of ownership, including rack space, cooling, and repair.
For example, Singapore communications firm M1, has benefited from operating-cost efficiencies and improved database performance by betting on all-flash storage. Since moving on from complex, legacy storage infrastructure, the telco has been able to improve time-to-market for new services and identify better opportunities to bring more value to customers.
Melding cost efficiency with eco-sustainability
In addition to pro-business budgetary measures, the Singapore government has reinforced its green commitment, including the extension of the Energy Efficiency Grant. Moreover, the recent amendment to the Carbon Pricing Bill, which will see higher carbon taxes starting in 2024, will serve as an impetus for more organizations to adopt more energy-efficient solutions as they focus on stretching their dollar.
Beyond facing high carbon taxes, organizations that fail to take ESG seriously risk losing supporters and business opportunities, and this can negatively impact bottom lines. In light of this, organizations need to reevaluate their existing processes and see where they can implement changes to be more eco-friendly.
According to the World Economic Forum, when scaled up, digital technologies have the potential to reduce emissions of up to 20% by 2050. Modern storage architectures offer flexible consumption choices that allow the independent scaling of capacity and performance over time, based on growth and demand projections.
Meanwhile, employing a more modular approach where organizations can reuse and repurpose standard components prevents duplicated efforts in their software development lifecycles. Besides offering significant time and energy savings, this allows organizations to leverage resources and power from past applications for new projects, translating to reduced expenses overall. As an added benefit, reusing standard parts offers organizations greater flexibility to complete projects when supply issues strike.
The road ahead may be paved with economic headwinds, but a few strategic tweaks to the IT portfolio and operational processes can give businesses a competitive advantage. And, by implementing sustainable business models, businesses will be able to unlock new growth opportunities and keep costs at bay, amid economic uncertainty.
