As we get ready for the holiday season, you’re probably
thinking of spending time with family and friends and enjoying the celebrations,
but the fun is tempered by the reality that your budget is
probably coming due again. Are you ready to face the coming year? Do you know
how you will spend the monies you still have left for this year? Important
questions indeed, especially as you look at Disaster Recovery (DR) planning.

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Budgets that are about to expire usually have a “use it
or lose it” clause that allows your firm to take back any funds you haven’t
spent by the end of your department’s fiscal year. That means that if you have
any cash left over—unlikely but possible—then you must spend it before time runs
out, or it is lost to you. This isn’t as bad as it seems, especially if your
fiscal year is the same as the calendar year. Most vendors of hardware and
software are very busy trying to close as many deals as possible before the end
of the year, meaning now is the time to get the best deals you’re going to see
all year long. So, if there is any budget still to be spent, start talking to
your vendors and be very clear that you must spend the cash before January 1.

Next
year’s budget is also on the table right now. Hopefully, you have a hand in
drafting the
budget for the coming year and will be able to get the gear you need built
into the bottom line. However, most tech staffers do not have that luxury. In
that case, all you can —and must—do is make sure that those who are in charge
of drawing up budget numbers are well aware of your needs. Dig up that DR plan
and make sure you know what parts still need to be implemented over the coming
year. Make sure you fully document all your needs, even if you’re not going to
get the cash for them just yet. At the very least, you will have a paper trail
that shows that you asked for the cash, but there is at least a chance you will
find yourself with the budget turning in your favor.

In DR, planning is everything. This is true both in strategizing
how systems and software will work together and in planning for the funding to
properly implement those solutions over the coming year. Best wishes for the
coming New Year. Here’s hoping that this is the year you are able to implement
an airtight DR plan—and no reason at all to use it!