Organizational information technology budgeting criteria and solutions Essay

Organizational information technology budgeting criteria and solutions - Essay Example The domain of information technology has come to take up from the most basic of functions to the most advanced of functions executed in the organizational structure. In addition, information technology has impinged the functions of most basic level employees to the most senior levels of management in any organization. The modern economy has a lot to credit information technology with. However, the management of this vital tool for the organizational structure is a complicated process depending on the particular constraints in place. Information technology requirements tend to differ from one organization to the next even if the basic business functions are more or less the same. This tends to happen as information technology requirements are differentiated on the basis of an organization’s internal factors as well as external constraints. The choice of particular systems to use and the choice to embed the systems to certain levels of depth in an organization all require meticulous attention to detail. It must be taken to note that information technology is not limited merely to computer equipment or more aptly hardware. Instead, information technology, when applied to an organization’s business support functions, refers to hardware, software as well as the manning required to run the show. The budgeting aspects of information technology often fall to deaf ears since the budgeting authorities may not be as acquainted with information technology as desired. In most organizations, information technology budgeting comes through the accounting office where there is little appreciation for information technology constraints.... Budgeting Criteria The three basic tenets that are used to construe the information technology budgets for most organizations can be classified broadly as hardware, software and human resources. Almost all organizations that have some kind of an information technology setup tend to have some proportion of these three components working together to create a complete information technology support system. The proportion of each of these components tends to differ from organization to organization especially when budgeting concerns are explored. The components are discussed in greater detail below under the appropriate heads. Hardware Hardware is essential to the functions of any information technology setup. Some quarters might argue that hardware in the hardcore sense is fast disappearing from organizational information technology culture but in effect its proportion is changing. This change is occurring as more and more organizations are pursuing cloud computing solutions that are fa r more flexible and cheap when compared to conventional information technology setups for organizations. In conventional information technology setups, the organization tends to procure most pieces of information technology equipment that it uses except for larger network equipment that connects it to the World Wide Web. The procurement typically tends to include basic computing equipment such as keyboards, mice, towers, monitors as well as more advanced equipment such as barcode scanners, weighing devices, various kinds of flow meters etc. Again, the nature of the advanced equipment is determined by the nature of the business operations. However, the nature of the basic equipment