Some of the hidden costs of IT are not exactly IT-related. But thatdoesn't mean you can't find savings there.

Cargill's Taylor discovered that IT employees were calling 411 sooften that it was costing the department hundreds of thousands ofdollars in phone charges. Given his company's slim profit margins,Taylor describes himself as a stringent penny-pincher. Everyorganization has a surprising amount of waste, he says; you have tolook in all the nooks and crannies, and train your staff to do thesame. "If you create a culture where your employees watch for thelittle things that cost a lot, you can run a lean organization withoutsacrificing the important things," Taylor says.

Taylor put a stop to the costly calls by blocking the 411 function inthe department's phone system. He then posted a link for nationwideyellow pages on the corporate intranet. Without the calls toinformation, Taylor saved about $250,000.

Most CIOs can say where they spend money in their department, but theydon't have a handle on their actual costs, says Eileen Birge, vicepresident of the Concours Group, a Houston-based ITconsultancy.

"They don't know where the money really goes," Birge says. "You mayspend $10 million in a year, but how does that break down in terms ofprojects, maintenance, salaries, development and operations? A goodunderstanding of actual costs and their drivers is a very importantfactor and can save you a lot of money."