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It’s that time of year again…budget time! With 2018 approaching at warp speed, the process of preparing your IT budget is looming on the horizon – if you aren’t doing it already. Here are some tips on how to manage your limited financial resources to achieve the best IT results in 2018:

As you begin to look at your IT budget for 2018, your biggest payback will come by allocating dollars to things that can wreak havoc to your business, and to things that can reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Backup/Disaster Recovery (BDR) – Backup/Disaster Recovery (BDR) is likely the most often overlooked IT spend, as it is something that businesses think they need only in times of emergency.  Management needs to realize that those emergencies (like a security breach, malware, virus, or equipment failure) can be some of the most costly things to happen to their business. A good Backup/Disaster Recovery plan is key to limiting the financial damage when an emergency strikes.  The best BDR plans provide near real-time recovery allowing the company to return to normal operation very quickly – and those plans don’t have to be expensive. You need to spend the time and money to set up, configure, and test a solid BDR plan for your business – it is money well spent!

Aged infrastructure – Invest some of your IT budget in better infrastructure. Network switches, routers, and firewalls, even those just a few years old, have been eclipsed by the latest and greatest technology in their respective areas. Many of these devices are cloud-managed and simple to operate and maintain, resulting in a much lower TCO. Additionally, troubleshooting on this new generation infrastructure has become routine and these devices now provide a plethora of information – easily understood – which allows the IT department to resolve problems quickly and easily. As an added bonus, enhanced, real-time, network security is now common with this new generation infrastructure protecting your network with little to no human interaction.

Cloud services – Cloud, cloud, cloud….that’s all we hear about these days. Well, it’s time to a take a serious look at using some of your IT budget to move to the cloud. If your company isn’t there already (and I will bet it is to some extent), this is where IT is headed. Not every company, application, or line-of-business software will work in the cloud but an annual evaluation (at a minimum) of the cloud’s efficacy for your business applications MUST be part of your IT fiscal plan. Our experience has shown that many of our customers who have moved some or all of their IT business needs to the cloud have reaped significant financial rewards for their company. Your thought pattern should be moving from CapEx to OpEx. Do you want to be a hero to your company’s management from a financial perspective? Utilize a cloud services provider as much as you can, ASAP!

You should make your 2018 IT spend about safety, security, and lowering TCO. You’ll be glad you did! If you have questions on using a cloud services provider, backup plans, and network infrastructure in 2018, give us a call at 616.837.6930.

IT Resource is a cloud services provider in Grand Rapids, MI. We serve customers from Traverse City to Lansing, and throughout the midwest including Chicago and Milwaukee.