IT Budgeting Simplified: Part 2
Hello and welcome to Tech Riffs. My name is Killian. And today we are in part two of a special series talking about everyone’s favorite subject. Budgeting! In the last riff we covered the first three of six extremely helpful steps from our strategy for creating a proactive IT budget. One, research. Two, Proactive asset management. And three, Understanding your recurring revenue.
If you missed that Riff, you can catch the link in the description below. Today we move on to the final three steps which cover creating the budget and how to pitch it to your leadership team.
Step Four
Draft budgets. We’ll now take all of the data we’ve compiled and begin the actual forming of our budget sheets for, one, three and five year outlooks. For the upcoming year, we need to think about the immediate needs. What’s broken and needs fixing? Check out your asset life cycle sheet to see how many PC’s should be replaced, and if you have any networking equipment that is in need of an upgrade. Add the annual cost of any recurring subscriptions, and any upgrades to accomodate for planned growth and scheduled upgrades. Year one budget… Done!
Now make plans for what will need to be replaced or purchased in the upcoming years. Account for maintenance, business as usual, but also to expand according to the companies growth goals. This will show that you have done your homework, and that you are working hard to bring a predictable spend to what has been chaotic in the past. Make sure to buffer for the unexpected by building in extra margin for those unforeseen circumstances.
Step Five
Making sure our budget aligns with company goals. This is a big one! As you prepare to pitch your budget to the team. Use the data you uncovered in the talks with leaders in the company to truly understand how technology will help them meet their goals, and their objectives. For example, if you know that your company plans to hire 50 new people over the next three years. Impress your leadership team with a budget that reflects the additional user count and draw on the network. The goal is to never have technology inhibit a user a team or the entire company from reaching its goals.
Step Six
Speak their language. Be a technology evangelist. The homework is done, and you’ve created a beautiful budget that you think is going to drive the company forward. Good on you! Now comes the time to pitch it. Make sure you speak the language of the people in the room and get on their level. Their goal is to increase revenue, decrease costs, and decrease risk. Make sure you frame your budget from that focal point. Try really hard not to geek out too much on the latest OS update, or how much easier it’s going to help make your life. Help them understand that IT is an integral piece in tackling the organization’s goals. Yes! It is a big spend. But remind others of all that it enables your team to accomplish. And that skimping on firewalls could lead to a breach. Cutting corners on cheaper workstations could lead to frustrated disgruntled users whose ability to work is inhibited. And the risk is not worth the reward.
Whew! That was a ton of info. And guess what?… we’ve got more coming at you! Keep on the lookout for a downloadable template and a special webinar that will have plenty of information and plenty of time for Q and A.
And as always, if you need a partner to work through some of this stuff. Let’s grab a cup of coffee. As we wrap, remember. Do your research. Align your budget to the company goals. And communicate often about the important role technology plays in your organization. This is about so much more than dollars and cents.
If you have any tips that you would like to share. Go ahead and leave those down in the comment section. We would love to hear from you. Until next time, happy budgeting! I am Killian Smith, take it easy.
Worksighted Team
We are a team of over-enthusiastic people, ready to help our clients utilize technology to spur growth! We love technology and come to work every day eager to solve problems and find ways to impact our clients.
