Tutorials · IT Leadership
How to Plan and Justify an IT Network Budget (With a Free Calculator)
A step-by-step method for CTOs and IT managers to build a network budget: inventory, sizing, one-time and recurring costs, contingency and a business case management will approve. Includes a free budget calculator.
Before you start
- Number of users, sites and floor area
- Current device inventory and age
- Planned projects for the next 1–3 years
Step by step
Start from business needs
List what the business plans: new sites, more staff, CCTV, cloud migration, compliance projects. Every budget line should link to one of them.
Size the network
Estimate switch ports (users × 1.5 plus phones, APs, cameras and printers), access points (about one per 150–250 m² of office, more for dense areas) and Internet bandwidth per site.
Separate one-time and recurring costs
CAPEX: switches, APs, gateways, cabling, installation. OPEX: Internet links, licences and cloud management, support contracts, monitoring and staff time.
Use the budget calculator
Enter your numbers in the Navijin network budget calculator to get a first estimate of hardware, installation, yearly costs and 5-year total cost of ownership. Replace the example prices with your own quotes.
Add contingency and lifecycle
Add 10–15% contingency for unknowns, and plan replacement cycles: switches 7–10 years, access points 5–7 years, gateways and firewalls 5 years.
Show the risk of doing nothing
Put a cost on downtime (revenue or staff hours lost per hour), security incidents and end-of-support devices. This is often what gets the budget approved.
Present options
Give management two or three options (minimum, recommended, future-ready) with cost, benefits and risks of each.
Pro tips
- Ask for multi-year pricing and standardise on fewer models to lower spares and training costs.
- Include training and certification for your team: tools only help if people can use them.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What share of the IT budget should go to the network?
It varies by industry, but the network typically takes 10–20% of IT infrastructure spend. Base your number on needs and risks, not on a ratio alone.
Keep learning
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Read more →Stuck on a step?
Ask Navijin technical support or an authorised partner for help with your configuration.