By Rod Hutchings MAppSc MAIPM MACS RegPM(MPD)

• Budget guidelines need to be established prior to project
• Need to determine who has the authority to make certain budget decisions
• A budget identifying the total cost of ownership of an application should be developed. Some costs that need to be identified and budgeted for are:
• Consultants – as we continue to purchase more applications. Our dependency on consultants will continue. This needs to be budgeted as a recurring cost with each upgrade.
• Maintenance agreements will be a recurring cost of owning purchased applications.

Travel and professional development – the skills needed to support these new applications requires staff to learn new technology as well as develop partnerships with other institutions utilizing the same software. This is a recurring cost and should be budgeted for accordingly.