How to Cut IT Costs in 2025—Without Increasing Risk

I’ve been in more conversations about IT cost savings this year than I can count. Maybe you have too. It’s the same story almost every time: prices are up, revenue growth is down, and leadership is combing through the budget line by line looking for places to pull back. 

The latest numbers out of the Duke Fuqua-Fed’s CFO survey just confirmed what we’re seeing on the ground. Nearly 40% of CFOs now rank tariffs and trade policy as their top concern—double last quarter’s rate—and it’s hitting everything from capital spending to hiring to pricing strategies.  

That concern is directly feeding into cost-cutting: 40% of firms have delayed or canceled capital expenditures, and near the same share are passing tariff costs onto customers .  

Among those worried about tariffs, expected price increases average 6.6%, while forecasted revenue growth lags at 4.8%—indicating real revenue contraction in 2025. 

Even businesses that don’t see tariffs as a direct hit are scaling back, tightening operations, or passing new costs down the chain. 

If all that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. But here’s where companies get into trouble: the cuts start landing in the wrong places. 

We’ve worked with enough small and mid-sized firms to know how this plays out. You freeze IT projects, delay affordable network upgrades for businesses, or hang onto an underperforming MSP because switching feels risky—or expensive. Meanwhile, your tech debt grows, vulnerabilities pile up, and the cracks only show when something breaks. Usually at the worst possible time. 

Here’s the good news—you can focus on business IT cost reduction without cutting corners. But it takes getting real about what your IT is doing for you (and what it’s costing you to keep the wrong setup in place). 

• Overbuilt in-house teams with inconsistent coverage
• Legacy MSP contracts that nickel-and-dime every support request
• Outdated tools that increase downtime, risk, or manual work
• Gaps in automation that drain time and headcount unnecessarily

At Decypher, we’re seeing businesses rethink that model. Outsourcing critical IT functions, tightening vendor contracts, and automating repetitive tasks is how you control spend and stay resilient, even when economic uncertainty makes growth harder to forecast.

I’ve also had conversations lately with clients asking, "Is this really the year to upgrade hardware or overhaul the network?" 

The reality is, 2025 might be the smartest year to do it thanks to the Section 179 hardware deduction 2025. 

Under current tax rules, businesses can deduct up to $1,250,000 in qualifying equipment purchases—things like servers, affordable network upgrades for businesses, and hardware—during the same tax year they’re placed into service. On top of that, bonus depreciation lets you deduct an additional 40% beyond Section 179 for eligible purchases. 

That means: 

• You invest in better, more reliable systems 
• It doesn’t weigh down your P&L (only minimal depreciation shows) 
• You deduct the full amount on your 2025 tax return 

Say you upgrade your network for $100,000 this year. Your books show a small depreciation hit, but you can still write off the full $100K, reducing your taxable income and protecting your cash flow. 

That’s capital spending that actually works in your favor—especially with inflation, tariffs, and price pressures still looming. But the window to take advantage of those IT cost savings closes fast. The equipment has to be purchased and operational before the end of 2025 to qualify. 

If affordable network upgrades are on your radar, the time to plan is now.