Will your IT spending increase in 2019? Our CTO Speaks

Well, that all depends. And, here’s why.

Quality vs. Quantity  

Not everyone needs to increase their IT budget. Especially in cases where it’s already measured in millions  – your best bet might just be to close some projects and reassign resources. 

Perhaps a better question to ask yourself might be, 

“What is the enterprises’ capacity to integrate new projects and deliver them? Do your business/operational teams actually benefit from everything that’s being done?”

Allocating funds unnecessarily might mean missed learning opportunities, delivering less or wasting more. Don’t block your resources for too much time as you don’t usually do with your money.

Optimize your IT budget using focused Growth Hacking teams. Learn more about the Growth Hacking method powered by the Pentalog Growth Factory. Contact us!

Unable to Benefit from Technology Innovation?

The purpose of technology is to automate or augment, not to make you or your customers suffer. A lack of grace in adopting new technology is a sign you’re doing something wrong:

• Are you doing the right awareness?

• Are your decisions too biased?

• Are you building on the wrong foundation?

• Did you not integrate the security by default and design?

• Is your company unable to benefit from open source or cloud managed services?

These are the kind of questions you need to be asking yourself. 

You have nothing in AI? There are solid services like AzureML or Sagemaker that are easy to deploy and fast. 

You want Blockchain? Start with Ethereum. The innovative technology is there for you to use. 

Marketing Within a Product

When planning your IT budget, you can liken the steps you take to building a house. You wouldn’t try and attach a roof without first laying the foundation, would you? You must prioritize. Otherwise, any time and money invested is an absolute waste. 

For example, adding CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) features before loyalty or conversion for an eCommerce site doesn’t make sense. The same goes for adding transactions and commissions when building a 2-sided market instead of consolidating inventory and listings areas of your site first.  Or generically speaking, adding features for engagement or education when your site attractiveness is low and you have a high bouncing rate.

I’ve always known this, but it was only when we acquired a team of digital marketing and growth hacking specialists that I really grasped how to do it. The key here is to follow your North Star. But, why is this important when talking about an IT budget? Because, instead of building large development teams, it is often better to work with smaller, more flexible, highly diverse and focused growth hacking teams. Prioritize. 

That’s a great way to go Lean!

Never Overlook Security 

There’s a severe shortage of security specialists on the market today. Statistically speaking, it is very likely your staff doesn’t have the right skills. If this is missing from your IT budget, it may mean you don’t fully understand the vast capabilities of technology nowadays and the black hole of associated risks that come with the territory.

I usually associate a small security budget with an increased one for the legal team. 

Summary

An increased IT budget is not necessarily a good sign. With that being said, it generally means better things than for those choosing to spend less. Strive for balance, go lean, benefit from commoditized innovative technologies and don’t neglect security.

Check also 5 STRATEGIES FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR IT BUDGET!

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