When seasons change and old outfits return to the rotation, you may find some money stashed away in a pocket that’s been waiting for you to return and find it. This doesn’t just happen for coats. Q4 is an ideal time to take a close look at your upcoming IT budget for the next year. In doing so, you might find some extra money that you don’t need to be spending.
Budgeting for IT is a balance.
Looking for the cheapest possible technology solution can mean ending up with as bad of a fit for your business as overspending on unused tools. When budgeting for next year, the goal is to spend what you need to get the results you’re looking for. Five items in particular should be double-checked to see whether hidden funds are hiding in your stack.
Software licenses nobody is using
Employees leave. Processes change. Sometimes we forget to cancel free trials and they become recurring expenses. No matter the reason, subscription-based payments for software licenses add up and become a large line item for wasted resources.
Review your recurring subscriptions and confirm that the tools are still needed and you’re paying for the right number of users. Cancel what you don’t need. Even small charges can add up when they go unnoticed month after month.
Different tools doing the same job
As businesses grow, duplicate technologies can pop up as teams find their own applications or tools, often with overlapping or identical purposes. If one department uses Microsoft Teams for video conferencing and another uses Zoom, there needs to be a good reason for two business-grade video conferencing platforms to be in the same company stack.
Project management platforms, creative applications, file-sharing services and other tools often fall into this trap. Making a full list of all tools used across your entire organization can make it easy to cross-reference what’s needed and what’s duplicated.
However, you can’t assume that similar tools are always doing the same thing. Some applications have specific functions that work perfectly for one team but are of no use to another. Setting up a dialogue with department heads, when necessary, can keep the budgeting conversations productive, helpful and the whole staff working toward a common goal. Nobody wants a competition where teams feel like they have to defend the tools they’ve built their processes around.
Plans and service tiers you’ve outgrown or never needed
Software as a service (SaaS) companies mature their tools with new features, abilities and use cases. This often leads to industry-level tools offering multiple tiers or tiered plans.
When budgeting for the new year, the north star with software should be right sizing your plans. If your customer relationship management (CRM) platform is doing too much or too little for what you need, your service plan, and with that your budgeted monthly cost, needs to change.
Look for things like increased storage capacity, premium features like AI, or customization options. If they can be used, it’s a valuable investment. If not, it’s time to downsize the plan and reallocate those funds somewhere else.
Technology left behind by former employees
When an employee leaves, paid accounts, devices, phone lines and storage can stay behind. This is financially inconvenient, but it also presents a serious security risk. If these phantom accounts retain a certain level of access, they could provide entry points to sensitive information that no active employee is managing.
Budget planning is a good time to double-check that nothing slipped through the cracks. Going forward, closing accounts and removing access should be part of every employee offboarding process.
Technology that costs more to keep than to replace
There will always be instances where old, outdated technology still has a place in your technology stack. An example of this is certain legacy programs can run only on older hardware and are an integral piece of operations. In other circumstances, aged hardware may be an opportunity to proactively save some money through smart decision making.
Old doesn’t automatically mean bad, but if staff members are complaining about outdated hardware, software or servers, it could be lucrative to compare the cost of maintaining it with the cost of a thoughtful upgrade.
Getting more money from your IT budget
Before copying this year’s budget and calling it a day, take a closer look at where the money is going. You may find subscriptions to cancel, accounts to close, plans to right-size or aging technology that’s becoming more expensive to maintain.
If you need help reviewing your budget to identify where adjustments are needed, we can help you determine how your IT funds could be spent more effectively. Schedule a discovery call today where we’ll discuss your technology environment, needs and possible areas for improvement.
