Budget season is once again upon us, and as IT leaders, we are often faced with a stark realization about the prior year: Despite our best efforts, last year's budget seems now to be some distant reminder of last year's strategic priorities, which had to be abandoned to address this year's emergencies. Once again we vow to redouble our efforts for the next budget cycle and not repeat our mistakes.
Obviously, many factors play into budget preparation, including the strategic priorities of internal and external customers, IT infrastructure cost and operational reviews, negotiations of budget limits and expectations, and your own gut instinct -- honed over many years -- for what can reasonably be accomplished given your IT organizational restraints. One way to bring focus and direction to your strategic planning and budget exercises is to use outside benchmarks to learn how your IT organization compares to others within your revenue range and industry in terms of cycle times, staff productivity, and cost effectiveness. Benchmarks help determine reasonable targets and priorities -- especially if your organization has a "do more with less" mentality.
