System Management: Breaking the 70/30 split of ICT budgets
Whichever ICT analyst reports you read (e.g. Gartner, Forrester, CIO Insight, Ovum etc.) , they offer a consensus view on the average 70/30 split of ICT budgets – 70% is spent on maintaining the ICT you already have and only 30% is available for investment in new projects that could deliver innovation and new ways of working more productively.
The 70/30 split in ICT budgets has been acknowledged as a ‘reality’ for so long that it almost looks to be an insurmountable barrier. However, several Microsoft customers in the public sector are proving that you can save substantial money and achieve significant operational efficiencies with smarter system deployment and management and free up ICT budget for potential investment in innovation:
- Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council – have used the expertise of Microsoft Services to reduce the time spent managing permissions and policies by up to 50%, reduce backup time by 30% and user logon times are up to 40% faster on their Windows 7 deployment. Read the full story here.
- Plymouth City Council – expects to save £494,000 over three years by changing to a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and upgrading to the latest Microsoft software (i.e. upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7) as well as improving user productivity with more flexible and secure remote and mobile access to systems. Read the full story here.
- Tube Lines – standardising on Microsoft technologies has contributed towards a reduced IT operating cost of more than 70% in the past five years. Read the full story here.
These customer examples demonstrate that the 70/30 split between maintenance/ innovation for ICT budgets can be changed in favour of innovation with better and smarter use of current investments in ICT.
You can find out more about Microsoft and our partners approach to saving public sector organisations money here.
Posted by Ian