IT Budget Planning for 2022: Developing an Effective Budget for Your IT Department

IT spending is on the rise. A recent survey found that technology executives around the world expect to increase their IT budgets by 3.6% for 2022. While IT spend has steadily increased over the years, this represents the biggest jump since 2018.

This jump is, in part, due to the way the pandemic has altered the way we work. With more companies offering remote positions on a permanent or semi-permanent basis (or, in some cases, going to a remote model company-wide), the need for new IT equipment has increased significantly.

What will your company’s IT budget look like for 2022? Do you foresee a need to increase your IT spend or will it look similar to your 2021 budget?

IT budget planning is a crucial element of your company’s success. You need to set aside sufficient money for your technology needs and budget for it in a way that’s flexible enough to handle any unforeseen events that could affect your spending.

As you develop your IT budget for 2022, consider the following.

Evaluate Your Company’s Existing IT Infrastructure

Begin by reviewing your 2021 budget. Where did it fall short? Where did you have excess budget? Are there any line items you can remove? What new equipment needs to be purchased in 2022?

As you evaluate your existing IT infrastructure, ask yourself: Is it sustainable? Is it supplying what your business needs not simply to function, but to thrive?

Take the time to reevaluate your office space and related IT equipment needs as well — especially if the past couple of years saw an increase in employees working remotely. Do you need all of the office space you have, or does it make sense to downsize? If you have your own servers running in your own local data center, will you keep them there, or move to a cloud or hosted strategy? And whether they’re working from the office or remotely, does your staff have the IT equipment they need to do their jobs effectively?

Once you determine the changes that need to be made, you can create a plan to execute those changes and organize your budget accordingly.

Develop a Strategic — Yet Flexible — Action Plan to Improve Your Organization’s Technology

IT budget planning Making a plan to replace your IT equipment ahead of time is key to building a successful budget. If you wait until a piece of equipment fails, you could face limited product availability, prolonged downtime, decreased productivity, and even data security issues. Keep track of the life cycle and current state of your existing equipment so you know what will need to be replaced when.

Plan flexibility into your budget as well. Over the past couple of years, we have all learned how important flexibility can be to a company’s success. The key to effective budgeting is to plan as much as possible, while also recognizing that things can and will change…and your budget will need to adjust accordingly.

Ultimately, your IT budget should be tailored to your company’s goals, and should cover three main functional categories:

Run: These are your day-to-day operating needs — items that keep the company running.
Grow: These items allow the company to introduce new capabilities or improve existing ones. They should tie directly to the company’s growth goals for the year.
Transform: These items are focused on innovation, research, and development over the long term.

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Make Sure Your IT Budget Includes These Components

From these three categories, your budget should then drill down into more specific components:

Hardware, encompassing all infrastructure equipment like servers, workstations, network equipment, etc….Don’t forget to include the costs of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), hosted platforms, maintenance, and support.
Software, including all new software purchases as well as software-as-a-service applications and application development.
Connectivity. All costs associated with your company’s network, including ISP, PRIs, SIP, MPLS, phone lines, and mobile phones.
Personnel. All human elements of providing IT services for the company, including salaries and wages, benefits, taxes, and any necessary outsourced personnel services.
Training. Ongoing staff training, whether through formal training programs, subscriptions to industry publications, or other educational opportunities.
Emergency Expenses. These funds will add flexibility to your budget, providing you with the ability to respond to changes in the market or take advantage of any unexpected opportunities that arise.
IT Asset Disposition (ITAD). Make sure you have a line item in your 2022 budget that covers asset disposition for your outdated IT equipment. Partnering with a trusted, certified ITAD vendor like Tech Dump will ensure your equipment is disposed of properly and securely.

Partner With Tech Dump for Your ITAD Needs

When you partner with Tech Dump, we will create a customized asset management plan for your business that meets your corporate objectives and keeps your company fully compliant.

Our secure data sanitization and destruction process is continually tested and audited to guarantee that your data remains confidential and that recycled components are processed responsibly.