Annual IT Budgeting

QSM brings precision and reliability to year-long planning.

Give this year’s budget a reality check.

Designed For: Executives responsible for submitting annual IT budgets.

All too often, annual IT budgets rely on guesswork, wishful thinking, and imprecise placeholders.

Then, later in the year, when execution reality sets in—well, so does the red ink.

Fortunately, QSM is here to help you quantify your project plans, identify high-risk projects, and adjust for reality. Then, we’ll help you optimize your portfolio to provide the best possible value with the lowest possible risk.

And that means no more year-end surprises.

Annual IT Budgeting Process

1

Data Collection

We'll collect existing project estimates, or build new ones for you—quick feasibility estimates or detailed estimates alike. We’ll focus our collection activities around scope, schedule, effort and staffing.

2

Build Initial "As Planned" Budget

We'll reverse-engineer any estimates you provide and check them against industry trend lines. High-risk projects will be flagged for later adjustment. We'll combine all these estimates to create an "as planned" budget scenario. Then, we'll provide the schedule, resources and skills, staffing, cash flow, cumulative cost, and a probability of achieving these budget goals.

3

Budget Alternative Analysis

Next, we'll adjust the high-risk programs for realism and show how this impacts our "as planned" budget. We’ll build multiple scenarios, selectively optimizing individual projects that result in significant cost savings and speed to market. Then, we’ll present these budgeting alternatives so that executive managers can make informed decisions and realize the best value for their IT investments.

Annual IT Budgeting Benefits

Establish realistic budget and schedule expectations

Both developers and business stakeholders will have a realistic appreciation of the requirements—leading to a better understanding of feasibility.

Identify the "best value development approach"

Identify the development scenario that provides the best value from a cost, schedule and risk perspective. This will help you save money and get to market as quickly as possible.

Eliminate late in the game surprises

By smoking out unrealistic estimates early in the budgeting process, we can eliminate surprises later on.

Rapid alternative analysis

Quickly explore the impact of budget cuts or increases, and use this knowledge to more effectively negotiate with business stakeholders.

Return on Investment

Learn More About QSM Consulting

We offer a variety of industrial-strength solutions to meet all needs and budget requirements, including complete solutions, “lite” versions, and incremental build-outs.

We typically recommend a staged implementation, as it enables a client to realize significant value while getting to know our process. We also suggest working with us on a single project, to start. You’ll get a good feel for QSM consulting, its benefits, and its suitability for your organization.

Please contact our solution design consultants at 800 424-6755 to discuss your individual needs and constraints. We’ll draft a statement of work, and then work with your procurement team to get a master service agreement in place. Once a purchase order has been issued, we’ll start to execute the project.