As we begin the new financial year many companies are busy with their IT budgets. Here are 6 common mistakes organisations make and how to avoid the potential pitfalls.
Six common mistakes organisations make and how to avoid the potential pitfalls.
1. Underbudgeting
Many businesses just roll over last year’s budget for IT to the new year, but in 2023, with digital transformation and cybersecurity, as two of the biggest global trends organisations need to consider, IT budgets need to be prioritised. Whether your priorities are replacing ageing IT hardware or investing in upgrading your infrastructure or protection layers, we strongly believe that most businesses should be boosting their IT budgets.
2. Not sticking to maintenance or asset replacement schedules
It can feel like replacing hardware, upgrading software, or sorting out your IT service contracts is an unnecessary expense that can be pushed out for another year. However, not doing these things could end up costing you more. For example, if you choose not to upgrade hardware timeously and something goes wrong with a machine once it’s out of warranty, the cost (in terms of downtime and cash) can easily outweigh the cost of upgrading the machine. In the case of a cybersecurity breach, the costs can be far, far higher.
3. Foregoing employee training
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest risks faced by businesses today. And your people might have the best intentions, but if they aren’t trained in cybersecurity awareness, they can unwittingly open the door to hackers. In fact, up to 92% of breaches are caused by human error. That’s one of the reasons why cybersecurity awareness training is an investment every business should make.
4. Not creating a cybersecurity incident response plan
A cybersecurity incident response plan guide is a document designed to help your organisation to respond and recover from a cybersecurity incident, which could be a cybersecurity attack or a cyber crisis. Malware attacks, virus infections, and accidental data loss can all damage your business if you don’t have a plan for recovery.
A new backup system, transitioning essential services to the cloud and remote servers, or moving staff to portable devices are all examples of measures that can ensure business continuity when the unexpected occurs. It may also be necessary to budget for disaster recovery consulting to help develop an efficient and scalable solution moving forward.
5. Underestimating cloud expenses
While cloud migration can help you to reduce expenses ranging from procurement and maintenance, it’s important to understand that there are other potential expenses involved, and to budget for these. For example, transferring substantial amounts of data to the cloud may require improved internet bandwidth, which may mean investing in your IT infrastructure. Make sure you understand the costs so there are no business disruptions.
6. Sticking with the wrong IT partner
Organisations of every shape and size can benefit from managed IT, which allows leaders to focus their attention on growing and managing the business while ensuring their IT is handled by experts. However, choosing an MSP that doesn't understand your needs or one that is unable to provide the level of service required can be an expensive mistake that takes time to fix. You might be tempted to just stick with your current provider, but this can prove costly (especially in terms of opportunity cost). If you’re considering switching, we’ve got a free guide to make the move easier.
IT budgeting mistakes can be avoided if you know what to look for. If you need assistance determining your technology needs for the year ahead, Numata can help steer your business in the right direction.
Get in touch to find out how we can partner with your business.
