IT Budgets Getting Tighter in 2015: How to Manage
Hey, good news! More than half of IT leaders (58%) believe their company’s revenue is going to increase in 2015 from where it was last year. Naturally that means technology budgets will follow suit and IT will finally have a little breathing room to make some much-needed upgrades, right? Let’s hold on a minute before we pop the cork on that champagne, shall we?
The 2015 IT Budget Report from Spiceworks was a mixed bag for IT leaders who’ve spent the last few years working under the directive to do more with less or the same. On the one hand, IT is optimistic in the report about the financial status of their companies as a whole. However, they’re considerably less bright-eyed about their own department’s finances. In fact, just 33% of those surveyed expect their IT budgets to increase from 2014 levels. Roughly 45% predict their budgets will stay the same this year, while 12% think theirs will decrease.
With most IT leaders forecasting stagnant or shrinking budgets, it should come as little surprise that department expansion likely wasn’t in the cards. Roughly 70% said they expected their department headcount to either drop or stay the same in 2015. Part of that reluctance to increase staff size could stem from the fact leaders believe IT salaries will inch higher this year, making gains somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3%.
The timing of all this is far from ideal. Now granted, there’s never a good time to be in a budget crunch, but if there was a worst time to have one, 2015 would almost certainly be in the running for that crown.
The reason: Holding off on some upgrades isn’t going to be an option for much longer. This summer’s looming Windows Server 2003 end-of-life date is one example of this. Many companies who haven’t upgraded to a newer version of the software will likely be scrambling to do so before Microsoft ends support for the outdated software on July 14, 2015.
Even if Server 2003 isn’t specifically on their minds, product end-of-life seems to be. In fact, 68% of IT leaders listed end-of-life as a primary driver for a new tech purchase. That was good for second place, just behind growth/additional need (69%) as the most frequently given reason for a purchase.
And software concerns cover just 34% of the annual IT budget. On average, 42% will be going towards hardware projects, 12% towards hosted/cloud-based service projects and 9% will go towards managed services.
It’s getting harder and harder for IT decision-makers to divvy up budgets and make sure each of those different areas is properly covered. It helps to have a partner by your side who can not only help you formulate and execute a solid IT improvement plan, but one who can leverage relationships with industry-leading vendors to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
Those are both areas where Arraya shines. To learn more about how Arraya can help you take your IT environment to the next level visit www.ArrayaSolutions.com or reach out to your Arraya Account Executive today. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @ArrayaSolutions
