A small business needs an efficient information technology system. The problem is it may not have the budget for a robust IT system like a multinational brand. If you’re in that situation, you are probably wondering how to make your budget work, especially when you don’t know much about IT spending.
Therefore, we’ll help you note your IT priorities and what to do if your budget doesn’t cover everything. Plus, we’ll look at ways to cut costs and still get the most efficient IT systems for a small business. First:
What’s an IT Budget?
The best way to look at this business cost is to break it down into various expenses. As such, the following are two expenses you must include in your IT budget.
Hardware & Software
Your business needs both. There’s the cost of purchase, maintenance, and upgrades. The latter two will either be monthly or annual costs.
Human Resource
It could be either internal, external, or both. For example, you can outsource your network security so that experts dedicated to such a service handle your web content filtering, intrusion detection, and firewall inspection.
You could try managed services as a complete package offering disaster recovery, ransomware protection, and network security. When you have an in-house team, there are costs of recruiting, training and supervising it. This cost will probably be the highest expense in your IT budget.
How To Maximize Your Investments
Go Big from the Start
It’s better to buy IT equipment and services suited for growth. That way, you won’t outgrow your investments fast. Try to match your budget with your business goals.
For instance, if you’re getting software as a service (Saas), consider a package that caters to 10 users if you start with five employees but intend to hire five more in the year. That way, you’ll not require an upgrade mid-year. It’s wasteful when you do the opposite, say, buy for 20 users when you don’t have plans to grow your human capital that year.
Prioritize Present Technology Needs
You will slow down your business growth if you invest in equipment that doesn’t support your immediate goals. As such, prioritize the equipment needed within your current operations. The process can start with a thorough analysis of your present systems to see where you need to invest more or support.
Save for Emergency Repairs and Maintenance
In IT, a cable can stop all your operations if you don’t have money to repair or replace it. Getting a loan from a traditional lender might not be easy for a small business. Also, it might take a while before the lender processes the loan. Your option at such times is to try non-traditional loans such as a cash advance.
The good thing about a cash advance application is that it gives you money fast. You write down the amount you want, include the interest and processing fees, and the lender transfers it to your account within days. This loan carries the risk of high-interest rates, so it’s better to set up an emergency fund for your IT repairs now.
Buy Scalable IT Investments
It’s the alternative to buying more than you need at the moment. With scalable solutions, you only buy to match your present capacity. If it decreases, you can scale down. On the other hand, when your need increases, you scale up.
Train Your Human Capital
Whether it’s hardware or software, human error can cause significant problems. For example, it’ll cost your business when an employee clicks a link on an email with a phishing attack. Also, leaving laptops in extreme heat or cold conditions can damage them. Whenever you install new systems, train your employees how to use them so that you minimize damage.
Schedule Regular Repair and Maintenance
Maintenance lowers downtime, so your business can run smoothly. Also, it detects IT issues early. For instance, it identifies symptoms of computer viruses before the virus spreads to the entire network.
It’s possible to automate some maintenance tasks, such as software upgrades.
Insure Your Equipment
You can insure your equipment against theft, damage, or any other risk prevalent in your field. There are different policies. For instance, it can be equipment insurance.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing some IT needs to a managed service provider will lower your operation costs because you won’t have to recruit and manage a team for those tasks. Additionally, you’ll have fewer IT systems to maintain. As you decide what you need, prioritize equipment that supports your current business goals.
Further, get scalable equipment and services so that they grow as your business grows. Don’t forget to budget for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades in your monthly and annual IT budget.
By Andrej Kovacevic
Updated on 23rd February 2023