It’s that time of year!
IT budgeting is not fun, but we all agree it is essential. Many planners fall into the trap of recycling last year’s plan, year after year, without taking a strategic approach.
Instead of repeating what you did last year, and frankly years and years before that, take a fresh look at what you are doing. As a business leader, you understand the critical role that IT plays in driving growth, efficiency, and innovation within your organization. In this blog post, I’ll highlight the areas to consider when strategically planning your IT budget.
Key areas to review when planning your 2025 IT budget:
1. Security
Security is your most critical IT investment. According to Sophos State of Ransomware 2024:
- 59% of organizations were hit with ransomware in the last year. Have you been lucky so far or not so much?
- 70% of attacks result in data encryption. Ensure you have immutable backups in place to protect your data.
- 5X increase in ransom bills in the last 12 months. Wouldn’t it be better to invest in your security now and stay protected?
My guess is that you are not investing enough in your security. Now just admit it and invest appropriately.
Some security measures, like firewalls, MFA, anti-virus/spam are essential. Others, like penetration testing, SIEM, and compliance tools, are beneficial but may not always justify the cost based on your specific risk profile. It is, however, crucial not to cut corners on security. The stakes are higher than ever, and skimping on protection could leave your business vulnerable.
Advice: Download our free cyber-risk assessment and see what you get.
2. AI Implementation
AI is becoming an essential tool for automating repetitive tasks and freeing up your team to focus on more strategic work. The cost will vary based on your needs, but starting with a paid version of OpenAI or consulting with your IT provider about AI services is a good approach.
3. Cyber Insurance
Allocating funds for cyber insurance as a safeguard against ransomware and data breaches is wise thinking.
With cyber threats on the rise, cyber insurance is a must-have. It helps protect against data breaches, ransomware, and other security risks. In 2025, make sure to include cyber insurance in your budget to cover potential attacks. Costs can vary, so review your coverage regularly and consider enhancing security measures to lower your premiums. We have had client cases where showing to the insurance provider what you are doing for your security can save thousands of dollars in premiums! Be security smart.
4. BYOD
Are your employees using their personal cell phones or laptops? It’s time to reevaluate the process and ensure there are no hidden costs or risks involved. While Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) may seem cost-effective at first glance since you don’t have to purchase hardware, it can be misleading if the savings are overshadowed by lost productivity. Take, for instance, a scenario where an employee’s laptop gets stolen, and they opt not to invest in a new one, resorting to using an outdated device that is slow and unreliable.
Advice: if you have a hybrid office with BYOD already in place, make sure to check out our Golden Rules for running a hybrid office.
5. Software Maintenance
Do you really need the annual maintenance on a specific software or are you missing a plan for one that you are currently using? Look into that. No one likes paying the annual maintenance fees on something you own but without it, you may not receive critical security updates. Trust me, paying the annual maintenance fee is laughably low compared to paying for a hacking incident.
6. Hardware Maintenance
You definitely need this, but at what point does it make sense to stop it? As hardware ages, the manufacturer does not maintain parts and does not want to support it any longer. We have seen times when the annual maintenance was about the cost of a new device! For some networking hardware, it may be more cost-effective to buy an extra device to sit on a shelf pre-configured and ready to go if ever needed rather than maintaining annual maintenance on all the like equipment.
7. Technology Management
No one likes the up-and-down billing of utilizing technology support from a 3rd party firm. There are many advantages to utilizing a fully managed technology support plan, and for the budgeting and cash flow process, it’s of great benefit because it becomes a fixed expense. No ups and downs to worry about unless you are contemplating a new initiative. With the Waident Managed plan, you get a cost-effective fixed monthly fee and receive unlimited support and management which happens to make your billing and budgeting process easy.
8. Cloud
If you are using the public cloud (IE: Office 365, Google, Amazon AWS, etc.) be sure and do a deep dive into that billing. For many of the platforms, if you commit to a certain amount of services and activity, you can save a lot of money. We have a client who saved nearly $10,000 a month by committing to a one-year term for using the same services they had been for the past 2 years. No reason it would decline, and the cost savings were substantial.
9. Your Team
Is it better to outsource or insource? Not just the costs, but also the advantages and disadvantages since there will be associated costs as well. There is no one-size-fits-all all. Challenge your assumptions with metrics to come up with a plan.
Now that you have identified the key areas to consider, it’s a good idea to start your budgeting process a little earlier. Next year’s exercise should be easier if you follow the same process.
Good luck!
