Seven essential ways to cut your tech costs

an available list of freelancers by category, receive bids, award work, view portfolios, and then pay for work once it's completed. Each professional is reviewed by past employers and ranked according to feedback. The site offers a wide range of job categories--legal, programming, marketing, CAD, photography--and is free for employers.

7. Use Virtualization Software

Virtualization software offers many cost-saving benefits, such as consolidating servers and reducing backup and recovery time. And because you're running fewer servers, you save money on your energy bill.

Industry standard VMware's offerings run the gamut, from suites for managing large data centers to VMware Workstation for running multiple operating systems on a single computer. By using VMware, you can test new operating systems or try out new software without risk. The VMware Player is available for free, allowing you to import backup images or share data.

Microsoft's free Virtual Server and Virtual PC (search at microsoft.com) allow you to test virtualization and try out the company's Silverlight virtualization tool.

Parallels is one of the better-known Mac-friendly solutions. Parallels software runs on Windows and Linux hosts, as well as on Macs with its Parallels Desktop for Mac product. (VMware has followed suit and now offers a Mac app, too.) Parallels offers desktop, server, and automation virtualization packages with pricing that's more affordable than VMware.

If you'd rather go the open-source route, FreeVPS is a viable alternative to the commercial software listed above. As with some other open-source software products, FreeVPS doesn't provide official support, but full documentation is available on the Web site.

While the economy may be uncertain, a combination of free software, free services, and a bit of savvy can help any business rein in tech costs.