With the new financial year ahead, now is a great time to think about the year ahead, and budgeting for IT costs and hardware replacement etc.
Having a solid plan and budget for your IT is crucial to the smooth running of your business.
In this article we cover:
Prioritizing budgeting for IT projects equips businesses to thrive in a technology-driven landscape.
Budgeting for IT projects is vital for businesses in the upcoming year to leverage technology effectively and gain a competitive edge.
Here are some key reasons why:
Most businesses will have a budget for IT hardware and other goods and services that they need to operate.
Our advice is that if you have more than a handful of computers, you will benefit from forecasting and budgeting for IT expenditure.
Once your business is established, there is a very good chance that you will need to replace your IT equipment every few years. Such a good chance, in fact, that you can plan on it!
Drawing up an IT replacement schedule helps you plan well in advance, and helps ensure you have the funds when you need them.
This can be done in conjunction with our team at IT Centre. If you don’t have a list already, we can assist you to do an audit of the IT equipment that you have, the date it was installed, and therefore when it is likely to need replacing based on its expected life.
This asset management plan needs to be revised every year for budgeting purposes.
We strongly suggest that you do this years in advance of when you actually require upgrades. It’s not hard to do.
This list can help you have a clear and actionable plan on existing equipment, when warranties expire, and the requirements for a staggered plan for new hardware.
Something that makes this type of IT cash-flow or forecasting easier, is if you are on an MSP (managed service plan).
Being on a Managed Service agreement removes many of the fluctuations of IT budgeting as generally you pay a fixed monthly fee for day to day IT support.
You can read more here about the benefits of being on a Managed Service plan.
If there is one thing the last three years has taught us all, it is to prepare for the unexpected.
In terms of I.T, this means having a plan in place for things like internet outages (read more here), cybersecurity (read more here), as well as a cyber security policy (read more here).
Whilst no plan is foolproof, having these business plans in place can save you precious time and money.
If this all feels too overwhelming, and you don’t know where to start, please feel free to reach out to our friendly team at IT Centre, and we can offer some advice on the most important priorities for you and your business in terms of IT planning and budgeting.