by Jack Rosdale

Created on: January 20, 2009   Last Updated: January 27, 2009

Budget Approval Tips in a Slow Economy

The network is so congested that the routers have put up deli counter "take-a-number" ticket dispensers for files waiting to be transferred. Several trade journals have called wanting to feature your organization in articles about "legacy" software systems. And the hum of fans in the server room is starting to sound more like a geriatric wheeze. There's no question in your mind: you need to spend some money.

There's just one problem: the CFO. He or she is standing between you and the equipment that you are so sure that you need like an NHL goalie, and has blocked every shot so far this season. You need a master plan a masterful plan to get past that obstacle and keep the wheels of IT turning.

You need to get behind the idea that not everyone in the world intuitively understands how important it is that the IT department be adequately funded. Heck, not even everyone in your organization thinks that your budget is more important than theirs, and that was before the economy took a deep breath and forgot to exhale. In the current environment, every dime spent will need to be justified, and IT expenditures almost never have a ROI profile that benefits the bottom line. You're going to have to do some homework in order to get your budget approved this year.

Cater to your customers

It is a difficult truth that in many organizations, the services that IT provides are seen as little more than infrastructure. If the employees are warm enough in Winter and cool enough in Summer, then no one is interested in the latest models of HVAC systems; that can wait until the current unit stops working. Similarly, the networking gurus are likely to be the only ones interested in a speedy new switch, and no one but the Systems Administrators are going to be very excited that the new version of the operating system provides a ton of helpful utilities for managing user accounts: it simply does not impact them or the company at large. That is, it doesn't unless you can explain to them that it actually does.

A "speedy new switch" in the network is not just cool, it allows the nightly backups to be completed in four hours instead of six. This means that the branch offices have two more hours for entering orders, or that you now have a maintenance window in which systems can be shut down without impacting users. Better tools for managing user accounts means that the Admins can be more responsive, setting up new users in less time than ever before, or perhaps

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