Can You Afford Your IT Initiatives?

Your operations are, more or less, contingent on your budget. As such, your business will rely on its budget to guide it fiscally through the next year of operation. Unfortunately, IT resources care little about your budget, and you can see this in how unpredictable it can be. We’ll discuss ways that you can keep your IT budget from breaking the bank, as well as how you can improve success over time through proper management of your IT assets.

How to Approach Your IT Spending
It might seem like IT is simply another cost of doing business, but we urge you to resist the temptation to lump it in with resources like electricity and air conditioning. Instead, you should consider how your technology (and its current state of being) affect your organization in the grand scheme of things. If your technology doesn’t work properly, your employee morale could suffer, as well as productivity slowing to a halt. Your income could be affected as well, creating a major issue for your business.

An IT budget needs to take a lot of information into account. There are countless costs that can be associated with information technology, and that’s without mentioning what it takes to train your staff to actually take advantage of these solutions. The right IT budget will also include even minor inconveniences that come from setbacks you could potentially increase. For example, are you paying too much for a multifaceted solution when in reality you only need one of its features? Are you throwing away money on unused solutions that could be better spent elsewhere within your organization? Even if you have technology solutions for your business, they are only as effective as the way you’re using them.

Overall, you should consider your IT budget an investment. Some of it might be seen as a business expense, but overall, much of the spending will be dedicated to eliminating waste and unnecessary expenses. No matter how you see it, your IT should be used to put your business in a positive financial situation.

Encouraging Financial Wellbeing with an IT Budget
If you don’t know how to proceed with developing an IT budget, we’ve put together a list of topics to consider:

• Have a set budget for your IT: If you’re going to implement solutions, you should have a set budget for your IT that cannot be exceeded so as to preserve funds for other endeavors. Invest in business-enhancing solutions: Whether it’s boosting productivity or protecting against threats, you’re trying to improve your organization. Your IT budget should be dedicated to preserving this status-quo.
• Don’t shoot from the hip: If you’re not investing in IT properly, you could wind up in a nasty situation where your IT spending is actually holding you back. You should invest funds to where they need to go, but most importantly where they can make you more money.

Does your business need help with managing an IT budget? Directive can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.