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IT budgeting for small organisations
By David Otieno, Senior ICT Consultant 1 min read
Plan for subscriptions, support, replacements and security — not just new equipment — and IT stops being a source of surprises.
In small organisations, IT costs often arrive as surprises: a laptop dies, a subscription renews at a higher price, a virus clean-up is needed. A simple budget turns most of these into planned spending.
Recurring costs
List every subscription and contract: internet, email and office software, accounting systems, antivirus, domain and hosting, support agreements. Note renewal dates and amounts.
Replacements
Divide each device's cost by its expected life to see what you should set aside each year. Laptops and phones are usually replaced every few years; network equipment and servers less often.
Security and backup
Budget for backups, endpoint protection and occasional training. These are cheaper than recovering from an incident.
Support
Whether internal or outsourced, support has a cost. A maintenance agreement makes it predictable.
Projects
Set aside an amount for improvements: a new system, a network upgrade, an office move.
Review annually
Compare actual spending with the budget and adjust. Over time the numbers become reliable.
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About the author
David Otieno
Senior ICT Consultant
David Otieno writes about cybersecurity, physical security systems, power resilience and running IT reliably day to day.