How to budget your IT spend

With the world upside down, there has never has been a better time to predict how much your business will need to spend over the next 12 months on IT & technology.Sometimes seen as a "hidden cost," it's worth factoring in what technology investments your business will need to make in future.In this article, we will outline where the majority of your tech budget will go.

Staff hardware and laptops

Probably the most significant allocation of the budget will go towards new hardware.' This is a combination of replacing systems that have reached the end of life and systems that go faulty.Most laptops and desktop computers usually last anywhere from 3 to 5 years before a replacement is required.' Leaving the replacement period longer will have a negative "unseen" impact on your business in the form of productivity.As times goes on, computer systems will slow down - and if staff have slower systems to work on, they won't get as much work done.' It won't be noticeable up until a point is reached with a PC system becomes unusable.Other hardware to budget for is potential servers and network equipment.' Again, similar to PC's, 3-5 years is a good time to factor in renewal.

Software licensing and subscription

Back in the old days of IT, there was always a large upfront Capex expenditure on software for business. However, with the advent of software as service providers like Microsoft have embraced the subscription model.Now instead of paying a large chunk of money for a copy of Microsoft Office, a small subscription fee is charged per user per month.This has two benefits - the first is that there is no high cost when you take on new staff and the second is that it allows you to be flexible in your approach to software licensing in your business.

Connectivity

With the introduction of highspeed internet, it is one of the essential parts of any business - a reliable internet line.' Many companies will factor in built-in redundancy with more than one internet line to their office. The beauty of a solution like this is that you can combine the lines for increased speed and if a line ever fails, you've got the other as a backup.Business-grade lines usually come at a higher price than a standard home line. This comes down to service level agreements with the internet provider. If a fault is found or a line goes down, it's in contract with the provider that they'll have an escalation of 4 hours or less to fix the issue.

Support & Management

Almost always last on the list of an IT budget is the support and management of the IT infrastructure.Who is going to maintain and support the technology in your business? Sometimes this is provided by an in house IT specialist depending on the business size. However, most companies with staff headcount from 5-50 in size prefer to outsource their IT support and management to a company just like ours.The main benefit of an outsourced IT service offering is that you are working with experts in the field. If a problem occurs, it's fixed quickly and with a predictable cost attached to the service every month.If you would like to find out more about how to budget your IT and are looking for an outsourced IT support provider, then we might just be the answer.Contact us today to find out how we can help you or give us a call on 0330 445 1234.'