How self-aware are you when it comes to IT spend?
One of the most important elements of budgeting for 2020 is getting clarity on what you’ll be spending—and why. Too many times, companies don’t even know their total IT costs, which puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to budgeting for a new year. Line items aren’t captured. Locations and users aren’t incorporated. Cloud charges stack up unnecessarily. Vendors sometimes don’t reveal all charges upfront and expenses continue to trickle in. And on and on.
Businesses today recognize that IT expenses rise as businesses grow and incorporate new technologies. This is especially true for those companies that understand that IT is no longer just line items on a spreadsheet, but a growth driver for the enterprise.
Creating a smart IT budget for 2020 may sound like a daunting proposition but it can be gratifying, especially when the results are smart spends that move the business forward.
Strategic considerations when planning your IT budget
A few strategic considerations you should consider in the context of allocating an appropriate IT budget for the coming year:
- IT budgets will rise as businesses replace outdated technology: 44% of businesses plan to increase tech spend in 2020, up from 38% in 2019
- One in four enterprises (1,000+ employees) are increasing 2020 IT spend due to a recent security incident
- Business adoption of AI-powered technologies is expected to triple by 2021, while the adoption of edge computing is expected to double
- Two-thirds of large enterprises (5,000+ employees) plan to deploy 5G technology by 2021
Businesses are incorporating the fundamentals like hardware and software as well as new technologies such as AI, machine learning and IoT. Security issues remain prevalent and moving to the cloud is standard operating procedure these days. Worldwide, the projected expenditures echo this upward trend.
https://www.idc.com/promo/global-ict-spending/forecast
And while it’s interesting to see what’s happening on a global scale—and know that you’re a part of that big picture—it’s critical that you determine the best budget and allocations for your business to prosper.
However, building that budget can be challenging when there are so many aspects to incorporate. We get that. That’s why we provide some guideposts for customers to make sure they are taking full advantage of their technology assets while keeping costs down.
Factors to consider for building your 2020 IT budget
Technology operations don’t exist in a vacuum. There are so many touchpoints across the enterprise that need to be considered, but how can you manage that without creating a maze of a project? We’ve identified some points that will help guide you by asking critical questions:
- Who needs to be involved in budget development?
- How do you find accurate and full pricing?
- Where are you on your technology life cycle?
- Do you have legacy systems that could be restricting you?
- What new technologies interest you?
- What upgrades will you need?
- Are there compliance issues that need to be addressed?
- Are your cloud expenditures more than you expected?
- Where is the business most vulnerable based on an IT risk assessment?
- How secure are your security initiatives?
- Do you have the tech talent to take your business where you want to go?
According to research conducted with 1,000 IT professionals, the most important factor in increased spend for 2020 will be updating outdated infrastructure. Other elements that will push spending are security, employee growth and priority of IT projects.
Your IT challenges and goals will obviously be specific to your situation and where you are on your IT roadmap, but there are some business size issues to serve as guideposts. For example, small companies seem to require more support when it comes to best practices for security and disaster recovery.
Large enterprises, on the other hand, tend to adopt emerging technologies quicker and need help integrating new technology into their infrastructure. These differentiators will help create more relevant budgeting and your tech partner can help you allocate appropriately.
We believe in transparency, especially when it comes to budgets. When you work with Calyx, you’ll get all-in pricing. No surprises. We can work with you, your planning team and IT department to determine a realistic spending plan that not only addresses your current pain points but also positions you for innovation and growth.