How to Budget for Your Business IT

Give yourself plenty of time to review your IT budget to ensure your business has the resources it needs to continue to grow and prosper in the coming year.

Business now know technology cannot be an afterthought. You need to have a clear and well-defined Strategic Business IT Roadmap to reduce unanticipated technology issues that could cause trouble.

IT BUDGET: Assess, Document and Plan

As technology advances at a fast pace, routine technology refreshes become increasingly essential for any company hoping to stay successful. Rather than simply assuming you’ll need the same IT solutions with the same IT budget, take the time to assess your current needs, as well as how upgrading or moving to different platforms might help your company meet those needs.

Can your current state support your business goals?

Focus your IT budget to improve these four areas:

 

Monitoring and Maintenance

Weaknesses in your IT infrastructure compromises your business and can come with a heavy cost.  Hackers are always scanning for vulnerabilities in your business network. Identify your weaknesses with a network audit or security risk assessment. Make sure your devices have “next generation” software to continuously monitor your network and respond to threats.  Use a vulnerability scanning solution to identify potential problems and develop the best preventive measures.

Projects

Businesses frequently neglect critical IT projects.  IT Projects today strengthen security, improve customer experience, and allow for flexible work environments. 

Check out this infographic on “IT Budgeting Tips for Small Businesses” 

Refreshes

Keeping legacy systems may appear to be the easiest and most economically sound option, but it usually decreases employee productivity and harms your bottom line.  Older equipment reaches a point where it cannot be updated or patched. This greatly increases the risk of hacking. As a result, planned technology refreshes are critical to ensuring the optimal performance of your IT infrastructure.

Accidents or incidents

You’ll need a plan in place to tackle an accident or incident, such as a cybercriminal demanding a ransom. Discovering that hackers have encrypted all your systems can be disastrous, not just financially but also in terms of your reputation. When planning your technology budget, focus on strengthening your cybersecurity posture to prevent attacks.  It is vital to understand your insurance policy and have a disaster recovery plan.

Consult an IT Service Provider

An IT service provider can play a vital role in guiding you through anything IT-related, including cybersecurity, backup, compliance, budgeting and more.  It is often more cost-effective to engage an IT company than to maintain your own IT personnel.

An IT service provider can help with:

Internal support: Internal IT department or IT team

A common type of technology support is through an internal IT department or team.  Businesses with a committed IT team are enterprises with large IT budgets and needs.  Small businesses often have one IT staff member or use someone as needed. 

External support: Outsourced IT service provider

An external IT service provider, like us, supports your business in multiple ways.  We assess your IT infrastructure, help you create a strategic business IT roadmap to drive budgeting decisions, provide advice on the best IT solutions, and assisting with implementation, setup, continual monitoring, and support.

Hybrid support: A combination of internal and external IT services

Businesses with an internal IT team engages external specialists for areas they cannot cover, like security or projects.

Outsourcing your IT needs or opting for hybrid support alongside your internal IT team can reduce a great deal of stress.  Our specialists can help lighten the load and prepare a budget.

To get started, contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.


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