If you’re an experienced business owner, you’re probably already planning a 2025 budget ahead of the new year. You might be considering the costs of your services, personnel overhead, or even a major expansion to your operations–but are you thinking about a tech plan?
Having a solid tech plan makes sure your organization’s use of technology matches up with its needs, and keeps your resource usage as efficient as possible.
Key pieces of a good tech plan
A tech plan is a guide for growing, and managing your technology, and there are a handful of important things you should to consider when crafting it.
Growing your resources
Technology in the workplace grows more important every year, and expanding your proverbial arsenal will keep you in the game. Is your tech meeting your current needs? Will it meet the needs you’ll have next year?
Refreshing your devices (proactively)
Your technology won’t become more capable without human effort. Having a plan in place for updating and refreshing your tech will make sure you don’t lose time and money to the slowing (or failure) of outdated devices. This goes for software as well as hardware.
Managing your technology (also proactively)
Just as important as having the right technology is using it right. A comprehensive plan ensures all your technology is not just what the tech you need, but also that it works well together and with your team. Your business is more than the sum of its parts.
Having a tech plan that incorporates all this and aligns neatly with your business’s objectives lets you manage your resources efficiently and keeps your technological priorities clear, helping you make the best decisions possible.
Step-by-step tech budgets
Once you’ve put together a solid tech plan, the next step is budgeting. Take a careful look at what your company’s needs are right now, and figure out where and how you can make your operations more efficient. To that end, here are a few important things to focus on:
1) Technology refreshes
It can be tempting to think that sticking with older devices will save costs, but it can actually slow down your workflow and leave your systems vulnerable. Performing tech refreshes yearly keeps your devices running smoothly and safely.
2) IT projects
Be sure to think about how you’ll improve on your current systems to keep ahead of the game–be it through upgrading software, hardware, or your cybersecurity network.
3) Incident response planning
No cybersecurity system is perfect, and it’s important to be properly prepared for threats you can’t predict. If you have a plan in place well before anything goes wrong, you’ll be in a much better position to fight against danger to your company’s systems.
4) Routine IT services
Even when planning things like how to update your old devices, how to improve and expand on what you have, and what to do if something goes wrong, it’s important never to forget the basics. Maintaining your infrastructure and monitoring your devices helps keep you in the loop on potential problems and brings workflow interruptions to a minimum.
To help you achieve those four big goals, try to implement these practices while putting together your budget:
- Assess what you have: Examine your technological infrastructure, how you use it, when you’ll refresh it, and what could go wrong.
- Involve your team: Get feedback from your employees on their experiences with your tech to help guide your future investments.
- Have safety measures in place: Cyber insurance minimizes the costs to you when something goes wrong. An informed IT provider can help you determine the right policy.
- Map out your expenses: Figure out what your goals will cost, how feasible they are, and which ones are your top priorities.
- Make it comprehensive: Account for all your routine expenses, but leave space in your budget for the expenses you can’t predict.
Step-by-step tech budgets
Putting together your budget for the coming year is plenty of work already, and Net Works can help keep your technology from putting more on your plate. Our team can help you devise the perfect tech plan for your company’s goals, priming you for success going forward. Contact us today for a no-obligations consultation.
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