As ‘credit crunch’ becomes firmly embedded in our business lexicon, IT departments are far from immune from its impact. But those IT departments under pressure to justify their costs can find ways to minimise the fallout.

One of the first areas to explore should be contracts. There is little point paying for platinum-level support if it is not needed. If usage of a particular system drops, so should maintenance costs.

However, most supplier-written contracts will automatically renew annually, giving clients a small window to cancel or renegotiate the contract. It is not uncommon to accidentally miss this and have to pay for at least one year of maintenance that you don’t need. Instead, proactive IT leaders will ensure maintenance and support contracts automatically terminate every year.

When stipulating new requirements from suppliers, be clear about what you want and scrutinise responses to ensure you’re only getting what you need. Get detailed cost breakdowns and negotiate on these. Leave no room for assumptions to be made by suppliers.

Successful IT chiefs try to future-proof purchases. For instance, large network requirements are usually bought for upwards of three years, so contracts should factor in changes in capacity requirements during this time otherwise charges could escalate. A level of uplift over time is acceptable, but should be aligned with a public benchmark such as the Retail Price Index to avoid disputes over price increases.

Aside from the cost of the initial licence or kit, other savings can be made. For instance, when buying major off-the-shelf software, consider whether it is likely to require upgrades. If this is unlikely in the near future, third-party support can be as much as 50 per cent cheaper.

Finally, leasing can hugely reduce capital outlay, giving easily budgeted costs to cover all services associated with the item, for the life of the item.