The business side of IT
How to budget for IT without surprises
IT spending often arrives as a series of surprises: a server dies, a license renews, ten laptops all slow down at once. Most of it can be seen coming.
1 min readExplainer
The short version
Most IT surprises are predictable: aging laptops, expiring licenses, end-of-support deadlines. A simple budget catches them early.
The four parts of an IT budget
1. Recurring services. Managed IT, Microsoft 365 and other subscriptions, internet, backup storage. Predictable month to month, but they grow with headcount.
2. Replacements. Computers, servers, firewalls and Wi-Fi equipment each have a useful life. If you know when each was bought, you can see the replacement wave coming.
3. Renewals. Software licenses, warranties, domain names and support contracts all expire on known dates.
4. Changes. New hires, a new office, a new application, a move to the cloud. These come from the business plan.
How to build one
- List what you have, with purchase dates and renewal dates.
- Spread replacements over time. Replacing a quarter of the laptops each year beats replacing all of them in a crisis.
- Add the year’s plans: hires, moves, new systems.
- Review it twice a year with whoever runs your IT.
Signs your budget needs work
- Equipment is replaced only when it fails.
- Renewals arrive as surprises.
- Nobody can say how old your computers are.
- Security spending is decided after an incident.
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Tell us what you run today and what is getting in the way. We will get back to you about how we can help.