SMALL BUSINESS ITBUDGETS

10 QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ASK

DID WE GROW MORETHAN WE EXPECTED

LAST YEAR?

IF YOU DID EXPERIENCE UNEXPECTED GROWTHTAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.IF YOU DID EXPERIENCE UNEXPECTED GROWTHTAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.IF YOU DID EXPERIENCE UNEXPECTED GROWTHTAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.

SERVER

NETWORK EQUIPMENT

SOFTWARE

You may also have network equipment that was never meant tohandle the amount of users that it is currently handling.

If you had more growth than expected last year, you may needto upgrade or replace the server to increase employeeproductivity and maintain consistent access to sharedresources.

Have you outgrown your software, not only in number oflicenses, but do you need a more robust software solution?

1.

SWITCHES

SECURITY

Do you have excess network switches in the server closet orbehind desks? If yes, consider a project to run the cable neededto reduce the number of switches or add switches that havemore ports to reduce the possibility of network issues

Review who needs access to what programs. As employees areadded, implement new solutions that give them access only towhat they need in order to be productive.

DO WE PLAN TO GROWOUR BUSINESS THIS

YEAR?

NEW EMPLOYEES

IF YOU PLAN ON EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS, AFEW FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES CAN HELP.

OFFICE EXPANSIONYour construction budget most likely includes the building costs of makingroom for new employees or perhaps adding a conference room. Don’tforget to add the cost to support the new equipment and rooms afterthey’ve been built.

A new employee could require any or all of the following: computer,battery backup, monitors, phone, additional cabling, extra softwarelicensing, e-mail accounts and network switches.

Will you need to add software licensing to your server or add a server withthe addition of the new location? Include the cost of support of any newequipment at the new location when it goes live.

2.

NEW LOCATION

DO WE HAVE OLDEQUIPMENT?

EMPLOYEE COMPUTERS

SERVERLasts between three to five years depending on the growth of the company.But note that this is easily one of the biggest bottlenecks to employeeproductivity, so replacing the server sooner rather than later is a good plan.

This computer can last between three to five years depending on the typeof use. The computer will need to be replaced more often if an employee isusing software that demands a lot out of a computer

Check your router and consider getting one that will add features such ascontent filtering, malware, and virus protection at the router. This will keepyour employees productive and decrease how often you need to pay tohave viruses removed.

3.

PROTECT THE NETWORK

IF SO, IT CAN COST YOU IN EMPLOYEEPRODUCTIVITY OR INTRODUCE SECURITYCONCERNS. TAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING.

WHAT ARE OURSOFTWARE MAINTENANCE

AND UPGRADE FEES?

4.Most third party, industry specific software has some sort ofsoftware maintenance costs associated with it. Some cloud services like domain names, web hosting, e-mail,and even Microsoft Office 365 are billed on an annual basis. Other software, like accounting packages i.e. QuickBooks,don’t require an upgrade every year but it is a good standardto upgrade them to the newest version at least every otheryear. This will keep your employees from having a large learningcurve on new features.

WHAT ARE OUR SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE ANDUPGRADE FEES?

HAVE WE REVIEWED OURINTERNET PROVIDERS’

NEW OFFERINGS?

5.

Local telephone and cable companies are constantlychanging their offerings and package deals. Make sure you’re not paying for an old package. You may be able to get more speed or dedicated service forthe same cost or less than what you’re paying now.

HAVE WE REVIEWED OUR INTERNET PROVIDERS’NEW OFFERINGS?

WILL NEW INDUSTRYSTANDARDS AND LAWS

REQUIRE NEWTECHNOLOGIES?

6.New industry standards and laws go into effect every year.

For example, both the Department of Transportation and the

Occupational Safety & Health Administration have proposed

rules in recent years to require electronic reporting.

Although at the time, those proposals may not have been

made into laws but consider how likely these rules are to go

into effect and what impact that would have on your

technology needs.

Do you need to start implementing some of these changes

now or incrementally, so you are not hit with a huge cost all

at once when they do go into effect?

WILL NEW INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND LAWSREQUIRE NEW TECHNOLOGIES?

IS OUR BACKUPSOLUTION SUFFICIENTFOR THE NEW YEAR?

7.A LOT OF CHANGES CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR, SUCH ASTHE WAY WE COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERSAND WHAT DATA WE KEEP.

BACKUP SOLUTION

BATTERY BACKUP

Many companies are now keeping more photos and videosfor quoting or documentation purposes. With all that newdata, is your backup solution capable of keeping up withthe increased amount of storage you are going to need?

Also, have you added more equipment to your server closet? Isthe battery backup sufficient to keep you running as long as youneed. We suggest 30 minutes.

HAVE WE ADDED TAXESFOR EQUIPMENT AND

LABOR?

8.

How could we forget about taxes? Remember that all this equipment and the labor, inmost cases, is taxable. If you forget to add taxes to yourbudget, you are most certainly going to be about 10% offbudget at the end of the year.

HAVE WE ADDED TAXES FOR EQUIPMENT ANDLABOR?

WHAT SHOULD WEBUDGET FOR

EMERGENCIES?

9.

If you are replacing your equipment on a regular basis,monitoring it, and keeping it well maintained you shouldhave few emergencies. But the unexpected can happen. Although it would be impossible to guess what type ofemergency you could have, we suggest budgeting twotimes the hardware cost of your server as a buffer youhope you don’t have to use.

WHAT SHOULD WE BUDGET FOR EMERGENCIES?

DID WE INCLUDE ALLLABOR COSTS?

10.The cost of getting all your technology work done isgoing to vary greatly unless you have a contract with anIT company that includes labor. But these contracts don’t always include all labor, so youwill need to talk to your IT company about everythingyou want to accomplish in the coming year. Get quotes to estimate how much it will cost tocomplete each project you had planned, the ones thisarticle has brought to mind, plus all the labor.

DID WE INCLUDE ALL LABOR COSTS?