The five steps to reduce network costs are:
1. Develop standard hardware & software configurations for client computer & servers
2. Automate as much of the network management function as possibly by deploying a solid set of network management tools
3. Reduce the cost of installing new HW & SW by working with vendors
4. Centralize help desks
5. Move to thin-client architectures
Are there any additional steps that are not on this list? Which of these do you feel have the largest impact on a given network project?