Maximising your tech budget: how SMEs can get more value without overspending
The Expert Edit is a content series where we bring in specialists from our trusted Marketplace partners to share their expertise. Each article tackles key challenges faced by small business leaders, offering practical insights from industry specialists to help you navigate the world of HR with confidence.
For SMEs, IT is never just about keeping the lights on – it’s the backbone of productivity, security, culture and growth. Yet when budgets are tight, teams are stretched, and there’s never enough time in the day. This can make smart tech decisions feel like a balancing act.
Do you regularly invest in top-of-the-line equipment, or make your existing hardware stretch as far as it will go? Do you lease, buy or upgrade? How do you balance security risks with cost-efficiency, ensuring your devices are protected and up to date? And how do you make sure you’re choosing the right tech without overpaying for it in the process?
The key to answering these questions and getting the most from your tech budget isn’t about spending less; it’s about spending smarter. By making strategic changes and shifting your mindset, you can reduce waste, avoid unexpected costs and make your IT work for you, not against you.
1. Start with what you actually need, not what you think you need
Running a business can be an unpredictable blur. This can cause many companies – small, medium or otherwise – to fall into the trap of overprovisioning when it comes to IT, in a bid to stay ahead.
They buy more than they need to pre-empt team changes, or they choose devices with features they won’t use, just in case. Some automatically upgrade all employees to the latest models, even when their current IT is still more than adequate.
While this can feel like a positive future-proofing step, in reality, cash becomes tied up in laptops going to waste in an IT room and leaves hundreds or thousands of pounds’ worth of devices gathering dust.
How to get it right
- Audit your setup: Which devices are being used every day and which are collecting dust?
- Talk to your team: Are your staff struggling with slow, outdated devices, or are they burdened by overly complex setups? Is this affecting their productivity or satisfaction?
- Align tech with tasks: A finance team doesn’t need the same high-performance specs as a designer – just as a marketing team won’t use anywhere near the same computing power as a data scientist. Make sure you’re investing where it counts.
2. Create a clear IT roadmap
After you’ve audited your setup, spoken to your team and matched your tech to your tasks, it’s a good idea to use what you’ve learned to create a clear IT roadmap.
Many SMEs operate reactively when it comes to IT. They replace devices only when they break or they upgrade only when things start slowing down. This often leads to rushed, expensive decisions being made at the worst possible times.
Having a clear roadmap and lifecycle strategy not only allows you to plan for the future and keep overprovisioning under control – it lets you negotiate better deals and avoid panic buys.
How to get it right
- Align IT budgets with business goals: If you’re planning to scale, expand or introduce new services, plan how your IT can support this growth, not slow it down.
- Create a lifecycle strategy: Map out when you’ll need to upgrade different devices to avoid being blindsided. This allows you to stagger costs, rather than taking a big financial hit all at once.
- Set up a rainy day fund: You can’t predict the future. New hires, damaged devices or software upgrades can mean you need new tech faster than expected. Instead of overprovisioning with the devices themselves, overprovision your budget. That way you can dip in when you need it or reinvest the money if you don’t.
3. Get rid of tech that’s not pulling its weight
Holding onto old, inefficient or unsuitable devices is one of the easiest ways to burn through your budget. Not just in terms of sunk costs, but in terms of the hidden knock-on effects of lost productivity, maintenance fees and increased security risks.
If someone on your team spends even 20 minutes per day waiting for a page to load or an application to open, it adds up to more than 86 hours a year – the equivalent of losing more than two full working weeks per person, per year.
As a result, it’s almost always better to get rid of tech that’s not pulling its weight as soon as possible.
How to get it right
- Monitor performance: Check in with your employees regularly or create channels they can use to report performance problems to get ahead of issues.
- Retire the right devices at the right time: Don’t wait for devices to become a liability. Set up a planned replacement cycle to avoid unnecessary downtime – or at the very least, do it to keep your tech use and budget front-of-mind.
- Sell, recycle or return: Many businesses stockpile old tech rather than repurposing, recycling or selling. Put your assets to work.
4. Don’t underestimate support and maintenance
Even the best hardware can’t deliver value and help maximise your tech budget if it’s not properly maintained. Not having the right support in place is another hidden cost because it can lead to delays, downtime and security risks.
How to get it right
- Make sure you know who’s responsible: If something breaks, do you have a clear and streamlined process to fix it?
- Keep software and security up to date: Outdated systems are not only slower but also more vulnerable to threats. Have set policies in place to manage updates.
- Choose procurement partners that provide ongoing support: Having access to expertise and troubleshooting means fewer disruptions and better long-term value from your tech investments.
5. Adopt a software mindset
If you’re looking to maximise your tech budget, you need to fundamentally change how you think about IT procurement. That means adopting a software mindset when it comes to your hardware needs and moving away from the time-old buying vs leasing debate towards a more flexible, scalable solution.
If a piece of software was no longer meeting your needs, you’d upgrade or switch to a better solution – so why should hardware be any different? Applying the same mindset to your IT ensures you always have the right tools without being locked into outdated or inefficient tech that drains your bottom line.
How to get it right
- Find a flexible procurement partner: By spreading costs over time on a contract that offers built-in flexibility – like those provided by Ooodles – your team will always have up-to-date equipment, on demand.
- Upgrade as you go: Don’t wait for a full company-wide refresh; upgrade devices as and when they’re needed.
- Avoid overcommitting: If your team size fluctuates, flexible models let you to scale your IT accordingly, avoiding sunk costs from unused hardware.
Tech budgeting rarely ever comes down to just spending less. It requires a strategic and deliberate approach – one that is flexible enough to evolve and grow in line with your business. Done well, your business can maximise value while always being ready for whatever’s next.
Ready to start maximising your tech budget? If you’re a Charlie customer, you can access exclusive discounts on Ooodles’ IT procurement services, directly from our Marketplace, simply click here. If not, book a demo to find out more.
