The benefits of managing your IT budgets

The benefits of managing your IT budgets

Managing an IT budget is critical to delivering value from your technology and as a Managed IT Service Provider Prism appreciate that not every business prioritises or plans their IT budget.  We hope that today’s article will highlight some of the pitfalls in not planning and the benefits that can be gained from building IT budgets in to your business strategies.

So what of those that don’t budget, what can they expect, well IT equipment is not cheap, that’s not news to anyone with technology in their business and if you’re a growing business an unwanted IT expense impacts directly on your financial performance.  It will also mean that the availability of funding is not in line with the growth plans of the business, for example when your business reaches a certain size the requirement for server technology, either local or cloud needs to be considered, which can run in to 1’000’s of pounds.  Without forward planning for this funding your business will defiantly be hindered by the performance of its unsuitable technology.

It is also as important to plan and fully understand the cost of your monthly services to ensure a clear operating expenditure, many companies still have multiple providers for services such as broadband, support, email, hosting etc. This soon becomes a list of business expenses rather than monthly direct debit from a trusted IT supplier, whom you can easily manage and ensure is delivering value to your business.

So how do you plan and what fruits can you expect from your labour and the time spent planning your IT budget?  Well the first port of call is your IT provider who should be able to help you plan and know what key areas of your business will need investment over the coming months and years, they are the experts of your IT setup and upcoming industry developments after all.

A good clear plan will then ensure that you can:

  1. Empower your business and employees with technology that does not hinder efficiency
  2. Set a budget that is driven by the long term strategy of the business
  3. Budgets can be apportioned correctly to areas critical to IT performance or the changing requirement of the business
  4. The business can clearly view its operating expenditure, per site, department or even individual employee
  5. Compete in your sector, if you not planning your competitors maybe

For most organisations planning for and managing an IT budget might not and may not ever be top of the agenda but we hope today’s article has raised some questions that will help you look at getting value for your technology and making this part of the strategies you build.