by Karey White

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

There's no doubt about it. Times are tough for everyone. Just look at your receipt at the grocery store or your electricity bill. Watch the news and you'll see the billion-dollar bailouts for the banking and automobile industry. Open your paper and read about the highest unemployement rate in years and it becomes clear. People are struggling. At home that means a few less movies at the theater and a few more Redbox DVDs at home. It could mean less meals eaten at a restaurant or picked up through the drive-thru and more meals cooked at home. It might mean you pass up the shiny new shoes or eek out a few more miles on that car you know you need to replace. But what does this difficult economic climate mean for business? Running a business costs money and during these difficult economic times, budgets are being closely examined as efforts are made to trim the fat and increase profitability (or in many cases try to break even or minimize losses). The decisions are usually difficult.

So how do you, the IT professional, go to your boss and say, "Let's spend more money here. Let's give more to me and my department." IT isn't always an easy sell during economic bliss, but during economic turmoil, it's a whole lot tougher. While many employers are doing their best just to retain employees and keep the lights on, it isn't easy to convince them to spend money on something they often look at as discretionary spending. How do you persuade them that technology represents the future and that your departmet is worth the investment? It's a formidable task. So should you throw up your hands in despair and fill out unemployment papers to have ready just in case? Absolutely not. Now is the time to use that right side of the brain and come up with creative ways to sell what you have to offer. Here are a few tips for knowing when, where and how to justify your budget and shore up some job security at the same time.

First, be realistic. Look closely at your budget for last year. If available, check out the last couple of years. How much was spent and on what projects? Did the money spent pay off or was it money flushed down the toilet? Now look at what you really want to accomplish this year. Be sure that it's something that will genuinely benefit the company, not a pet project you've been hoping to slip in. This probably isn't the best time to ask your employer to fund your whims. Now, get out your legal pad and start writing. List everything you feel you and your department need.

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