How to Create an IT Budget That Is as Prudent as It Is Cost Effective

What’s one of the main overheads of any business operating in 2020? Rent costs? Probably, but there’s one thing that’s even more universal than that.

What could it be, you ask? It’s IT costs! This can include anything from frequent monthly payments for software to capital expenses for computers themselves.

It’s becoming impossible in 2020 to be able to manage a successful major business without thoroughly embracing technology. But that comes with a cost, and few big businesses know what exactly they need in regards to their IT budget.

If you’re concerned about your IT budget, we’ve got the information for you. Read on to find out how technology expense management and its superior offering, technology expense optimization can transform the way your business handles budgeting.

IT Budget: Invoice Auditing

First things first, your budget is dependent on your invoice capacity. To have a good system in place, you need to be able to have invoices automatically, reliably audited every step of the way.

With the right system, invoicing errors can be systematically checked and flagged before they have any effect on your company. The right system can match invoices to your inventory (more on that below), which ensures that each aspect is matching up correctly through seamless integration.

This also works in the background, meaning it doesn’t require a huge lift from your team. This is doubly important today when so many employees currently work from home. It allows a thorough line-by-line comparison of all invoicing measures.

With invoices, a good thing to consider lies in the allocation. It’s wise to invest in a service that provides multi-level allocation so that your invoices are assigned to the correct department and GL number.

Fix Problems as Well as Locate Them

You need to be able to reliably pay for your IT services regularly, but also flag any issues. Most importantly, you need to rectify these problems once they’ve been flagged up by the system.

Comprehensive solutions to payments like billing history, billing disputes, tracking, exemptions and more should be handled by your overarching service. The right system will be able to find comprehensive solutions to any issues that appear.

That massive Zoom out payment you’re currently paying to keep remote working? If any problems arise with it, it can be found and solved by the right budgeting system. Your solution provider should also have intimate relationships with providers, which should allow them greater insight into pricing models.

This can help you pay the right price for the most advanced services on offer.

Use Dynamic Inventory Management

The best way to see what you’re already spending on IT is to have a detailed inventory. With a large-scale business, the best way of doing this is by adopting dynamic inventory management.

With dynamic inventory management, you can ensure your inventory is automatically updated. This then ensures that you can assess a reliable list of all your physical and software assets enterprise-wide. A full log of all your current inventory can then be updated based on every single invoice you receive, ensuring everything is always up-to-date.

This is the ideal way of ensuring that your tech remains at the top end of innovation, whilst not replacing certain items too quickly.

Don’t Stop Communicating, Use Proactive Contracts Management

The best way of involving your team in your solutions is through proactive contract management. The right system will be able to notify your team immediately and directly when any specific milestones need to be reached. This keeps them in the loop on any real changes that need to be made in terms of your IT.

When done right, this prevents any unwanted auto-renewals, tariff rate conversions, and extensions on off-market contracts that your business won’t benefit from.

This can help keep your whole team informed on future plans and benefits your IT workflow just as much as your entire business operations. The right service provider can also provide custom workflow integration specific to your workforce.

This means all this data will be implemented in a personalized way to the needs of your business. Finding the right provider means finding a company who will work with you to create value for your company moving forward.

Why Just Manage When You Can Optimize?

It’s about technology expense optimization, not just technology expense management.

With IT, its an ever-changing field where new products surface frequently.

Your services provider will help you capitalize on new products and evolve with the IT world. They should be a reliable team made up of technology experts who can work with you directly.

They can then work to ensure every penny of your budget is put in the right place, whilst you focus on other core aspects of your company’s growth.

Where can I Find Technology Expense Optimization Help?

We know that the IT budget is just one of many facets of IT affecting businesses today. That’s why the team here at BCM is committed to providing intelligent technology expense optimization in specialized industries.

We work hard with all of our clients to fully optimize their IT usage, to ensure that their business is running as efficiently as possible. This includes working with clients to discuss their budget and what they need out of IT systems. We accomplish this through our detailed Technology Expense Optimization (TEO) service.

Our extensive Sophia system doesn’t just manage your technology expenses, it fully optimizes them to save up to 20% on your annual technology spend.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how BCM can help your business thrive, please contact us directly today.