Every fall, the same ritual plays out. Finance asks IT for next year’s technology number. IT pulls last year’s invoices, adds a few points for price increases and sends it back. Renewals get approved because they’re already in the budget. The budget gets approved because it looks like last year’s.
Nobody asked whether the business still needs what it’s paying for.
In our November newsletter, Chris Jones called this “inertia with a purchase order.” Here’s how to break the cycle before 2027 locks in.
Start with what the business needs, not what you paid
A budget built on invoices answers one question: What did we spend? A budget built from the business answers the one that matters: What do we need technology to do next year?
Before you open a single invoice, write down three to five business outcomes for 2027. Open two new locations. Pass the next cyber insurance renewal without exceptions. Cut wait times in the contact center. Support a field team that works from trucks, not offices. Then work backward to the technology each outcome needs.
Anything on the invoice list that doesn’t map to an outcome is a question, not a line item.
Sort every contract into keep, renegotiate or retire
Once the outcomes are set, run every recurring technology contract through three buckets:
- Keep. It supports an outcome, it performs and the price reflects today’s market.
- Renegotiate. It supports an outcome, but the price, term or service level is out of date. Your leverage is highest in the months before renewal, not after.
- Retire. It doesn’t support an outcome, or something you already own does the same job. These are the zombie contracts, and most organizations have more of them than they think.
Watch the increases you didn’t ask for
Costs are rising even when requirements aren’t. A survey commissioned by Origina and reported by CIO found that large enterprises spend 28% of their software budgets on upgrades and changes pushed by vendors. Those are companies with real negotiating leverage. SDxCentral reported that enterprise networking grew 15%, with higher prices outpacing demand.
If your 2027 budget absorbs those increases without a conversation, you’ve made a decision. You just didn’t make it on purpose.
Put security and AI in the budget, not beside it
Security often lives in a separate budget on a separate timeline. That’s how organizations end up with a new network design and an old security model. Every connectivity, cloud, communications and mobility decision for 2027 has a security consequence. Budget for it in the same conversation.
The same goes for AI. If leadership expects AI to improve operations next year, the budget should say where, with what data and under what controls. “We’ll figure out AI” is not a line item.
Build one renewal calendar
Put every technology contract that renews in the next 18 months on one calendar: carriers, internet, voice, mobile, security, cloud and managed services. Mark the notice deadlines, because many contracts renew automatically if you miss a window measured in days.
A renewal you see six to nine months out is a negotiation. A renewal you see the week the invoice changes is a surprise.
Know where you stand before you set the number
You can’t budget well for an environment you can’t see. The Convergent Technology Snapshot takes about five minutes. Answer a short set of questions and get a scored view of your contracts, network, security, voice and recovery, plus the top findings worth acting on before 2027 locks in.