Proper budgeting is vital for a successful business—and that includes building a budget for your IT. While your business IT is a key investment into your company, that doesn’t mean you can spend your business’s funds on it with no limit. So how can you get the managed services in Orlando that your company needs while keeping your spending in check? If you haven’t finalized your IT budget for 2022 yet, here are a few tips to help you get your budget set up.
Consider Your Existing Network
The first step to building your IT budget is to assess what you currently have. How well is your current setup working? How is all of your equipment performing? What improvements do you feel you really need to boost productivity and performance in the workplace? You can start by making an extensive wish list, but try to narrow it down for a few top-priority items that you can fit into your budget.
You should try to target things that will have an immediate, sustainable impact for your business. For example, while upgrading your network security might not come with a clear, measurable ROI, it’s a fast way to protect your business from significant losses should your system be hacked or infected with a virus. Other areas you could target include improved connectivity, automating slow processes, and so on.
Choose between In-House and Third-Party
If you’re looking at expanding your current IT team (or if you don’t yet have an IT team in place), you should assess whether it would be more beneficial to keep the IT work in-house or contract out to a third-party service provider. While there’s no single correct answer here, a third-party IT company can offer a flexible solution for supplementing your existing IT team.
Choose between Op-Ex and Cap-Ex
If you do elect to go with a third-party managed service provider, you’ll also need to decide whether you want to work with a business that operates on a cap-ex or an op-ex basis. Cap-ex is short for capital expenditures, which means you pay upfront for a specific package of services. This has the benefit of a flat fee that you can budget for, but it doesn’t offer much flexibility for scaling your IT needs up or down.
Op-ex is short for operational expenditures. These are your business’s day-to-day expenses. If an IT company operates on an op-ex basis, they offer more flexibility so that you can adjust your service requirements as needed. This does change your cost, but ensures you’re not paying for any services you don’t use.
Start Getting Quotes
With the following decisions made and your priorities listed out, it’s time to start getting quotes from managed service provider companies in Orlando, FL. Receiving quotes can give you an idea of what it will cost to achieve your IT goals for 2022. So you can set a reasonable goal to make it happen. Contact Millennium Technology Group today to get a quote on your IT needs.