We live in the most expensive G20 economy in the world, however, a steady change in wages, productivity, energy costs, currency values, and client expectations are quietly but dramatically redrawing the geography of our cost competitiveness. This new geography increasingly reminds businesses that having a competitive edge is what differentiates a growing business from fading ones, especially in a very competitive market, which Law Firms are currently experiencing.
This shift in relative cost directly translates into presenting clients who pay for a service with savings, directly or indirectly to be gained by efficiencies or monetary reductions. In recent years we have been working on and perfecting our business model for just such a market, which, let’s be honest is becoming the new norm. This model is based on a few aspects but one thing is at the heart of it all and cannot be sustained without a deep seeded passion or the drive for great customer service, yes, simply delivering on your promises, who would have guessed?
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”
― Theodore Roosevelt
Are you brave enough to reduce your ICT service cost?
In the current years, technology has become a lot more affordable as more vendors and suppliers are competing with one another and selling “yesterday’s technology” for a fraction of the cost. Therefore, it is expected that upon reviewing your entire ICT spend, your IT partner should be able to highlight significant cost savings for you over the next contract term.
By using their relationships with vendors and extensive knowledge of business application/processes and workflow automation we can confidently say they should be able to reduce your spend on average between 10% – 15% for the following contract term.
With technology evolving at such a rapid pace, organisations are finding smarter ways to deliver their services, therefore being more efficient and thus more cost effective. It is now your technology partner’s responsibility to pass on those savings and efficiencies to you as their loyal client.
The items we are referring to in particular will include:
- Internet connectivity
- Print and photocopier costs
- Telephony such as VoIP solutions
- Managed services
- Disaster recovery systems
- Digital archiving
Bottom line, the market has changed significantly in the past two years. If your approach to IT and the cost thereof has not changed with the market, you are effectively reducing your profitability, efficiency and competitive edge.
- What would it take for you to change?
- A cost cutting exercise demanded by the board?
- A massive outage of your systems?
- Persistent poor service from staff that does not understand or respect your business?
- Due diligence as a company to challenge your services provider?
- In any of these scenarios, how much would it have cost your business before actually taking these measures?
Although we understand the concept, we also understand that it’s hard to make the change. The saying “rather the devil you know than the devil you don’t” comes to mind, but think of it this way; by partnering with a company that is dedicated to ensuring efficiency in your firm and making the very expensive IT equipment you have already work for you and not just being another expense, you give yourself a competitive advantage.