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Establishing an IT Budget for a Small Business?
tirthas asks: "I am the Information Manager of a small (20 person) architecture firm and have recently been asked by my employer to prepare a technology spending budget. While I have a good handle on what I would like to spend vs. what I must spend, I am having some difficulty establishing a justifiable budgeting method. I have seen examples of 'per employee' methods and 'percentage of revenue' methods, but the dollars and percentages vary widely. What methods do you use to establish your departmental/company-wide budgets, what are your monetary amounts or percentages, and what successes or failures did you have in establishing your budgets?"
First, create a "consulting" line item in your budget.
Second, put $20 million in the consulting budget for next year.
Third, hire me as your consultant for one year.
Fourth, at the end of that year, I'll tell you how to budget your IT operations.
Or is that too small a business?
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Whatever you do, don't forget to budget for ample supplies of chicken blood and other black magic staples. You know you will need it when the boss asks for those apps and hardware that magically do things that aren't possible in the natural realm.
> Take the sound bites that you're going to get here with a grain of salt.
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Don't forget the "Oh God, that damn thing just died." section.
(Support staff salaries) + (# of PCs hardware cost) + ($699.00 per user to SCO) = your budget.
Trolling is a art,
- Replace six machines in back office. Cost $9000.
- Upgrade network to gigabit ethernet + wireless. Cost $1500.
- Acquire new scanner and printer for front office. Cost $500
4. Get your network hacked. Priceless