10 ways to secure funding for your next IT project

IT has historically been perceived as a cost centre, and therefore a good place for businesses to cut. But it doesn't have to be that way.

After years of battening down the hatches, firms are willing to spend on IT again, with a recent survey by IDC finding that companies are allocating nearly half of their IT budgets to new projects. But securing funding for these projects can be an uphill struggle, so how can CIOs land the cash needed to make them happen?

Here are some techniques that can work when you're arguing the case for an IT project.

1. MAKE YOUR PITCH ABOUT THREE THINGS -- lower the risk to the business, reduce the cost to the business and improve value for the business
2. TEAM UP WITH BUSINESS LEADERS
3. MAKE THE PROJECT EASY TO DIGEST
4. USE REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES
5. ANALYTICS ARE IN
6. DON'T FALL INTO THE CHEAP-AS-CHIPS TRAP
7. MAKE IT A SELF-FUNDING PROJECT
8. EXPLAIN WHY SHADOW IT MAKES IT MORE, NOT LESS RELEVANT
9. DROP IN SOME BUZZ WORDS
10. GET THE RIGHT MEMBERS OF THE C-SUITE ON SIDE

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10 must-have IT budget items

If you're staring at your IT budget and wondering what can stay and what can go, consider these 10 critical items that should remain.

Your IT budget looms over you, arms crossed, like a specter poised to make or break your year. If you've planned carefully enough, that daunting spirit will recede into the shadows. If not, you're in for a rough fourth quarter... and beyond.

To avoid the budgetary specter, you must plan and plan well. It's not really that challenging. It just takes time and experience—and sometimes a little bit of luck. And you can make life easier by ensuring that you make room for a few key items in your IT budget. "What items?" You ask. Here are 10 possibilities that could be considered must-haves for many IT departments around the globe.

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Business case for automating open source code management

It typically costs $13-$19 to develop a single line of debugged, documented and maintained software source code. Development organizations are increasingly turning to open source software which offers hundreds of thousands of freely downloadable software components which can be leveraged to slash development budgets by thousands or even millions of dollars. However, management, security and compliance issues related to open source software can introduce business risks that must be addressed. Manual processes for managing these risks incur significant costs - about $7800 annually per software component. These costs can negate the benefit of leveraging open source code.

This paper reviews the business case for automating the management of open source and provides recommendations for how to make open source an integral part of your software development operation while addressing business risks and compliance issues.