IT Budget Planning Guide for Growing Southern California Businesses
IT infrastructure spending is one of the most misunderstood budget categories for growing businesses. Underspend and you face downtime, security breaches, and lost productivity. Overspend and you waste capital on features you do not need.
## Industry Benchmarks
IT spending as percentage of revenue (2026 benchmarks):
- Healthcare: 4-6% - Financial services: 6-10% - Manufacturing: 1.5-3% - Professional services: 3-5% - Retail: 1.5-3% - Education: 4-6%
For most Southern California SMBs, 3-5% of revenue is appropriate for total IT spending (infrastructure + software + support).
## Budget Categories
### Infrastructure (One-Time Capital) Items that are purchased and installed: - Structured cabling: $150-300 per drop (Cat6A, fully tested) - Network switches: $50-200 per port (managed, PoE) - WiFi access points: $800-2,000 per AP (enterprise-grade) - Surveillance cameras: $300-1,500 per camera (installed) - Phone system: $300-600 per user (hardware + setup) - Server/rack infrastructure: $5,000-25,000 per rack (UPS, PDU, patch panels)
### Recurring (Monthly/Annual) - Managed IT services: $100-250 per user per month - Internet circuits: $200-2,000 per month (fiber, business-grade) - Cloud services: $20-100 per user per month (Microsoft 365, backup, security) - Phone service: $20-40 per user per month (VoIP) - Surveillance monitoring: $500-2,000 per month (cloud storage + analytics)
## Budgeting by Company Size
10-25 employees:
- Infrastructure: $15,000-40,000 (initial setup) - Monthly recurring: $3,000-6,000 - Focus: Reliable internet, basic WiFi, cloud email, phone system
25-100 employees:
- Infrastructure: $40,000-150,000 - Monthly recurring: $8,000-25,000 - Focus: Managed network, multi-AP WiFi, VoIP, surveillance, backup
100-500 employees:
- Infrastructure: $150,000-500,000 - Monthly recurring: $25,000-75,000 - Focus: Campus network, redundant connectivity, full security stack, managed services
Summit DNC provides transparent IT infrastructure pricing for Southern California businesses — from initial assessment through design, installation, and ongoing management.
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