Your 2010 telecom budget

Where would you be without your telecom budget? Well, you would be offline and out of business.

So it's essential to make sure your 2010 telecom budget will be solid and approved right down the line. And you're just hoping that last year's massive cuts won't be repeated. According to CIO Magazine, IT shops reduced budgets by an average of 22 percent from '08 to '09 and head count by an average of 17 percent.

Make sure you include the following in your budget:

> Support for mobile workers, including hardware, software, services and devices.

> Branch office support.

> Review emerging technologies, including VoIP.

> Plans to upgrade your routers, switches and wireless LAN gear.

> Up-to-date videoconferencing.

Each of these items is essential, and you cannot afford to zero any of them out. If budget cuts continue, figure out other ways to save money, not on your telecom budget.

For more on your telecom budget:
- see this cio.com article