It’s IT budgeting time for 2015 — and Barr Snyderwine is reaching for the stars.

“I’m going to present over 20% in increased IT spending” to the executive team, says the CIO at Hargrove Inc., a trade show and event services company in Lanham, Md. “I’m going to present everything I think we should be doing.” On his wish list? Mobile technologies that will make it easier to access floor plans and information from the trade show floor. Those technologies will have to be integrated with internal workflow systems “so it’s a little harder [and more expensive] to roll those out,” Snyderwine explains.

He’s also throwing in some “teasers,” such as a request for 100 Microsoft Surface tablets. “Those are fabulous devices, but a little pricey. We deal with a lot of graphics, so to put them on tablets at show sites, blow them up, see them and [manipulate] them — that could be a really killer app for us,” Snyderwine says. He admits that the use case for such a splurge “isn’t there yet,” but he figures “it’s worth putting out there.”

When it comes to new technology, business leaders don’t know what they don’t know, he says. Therefore, it’s part of his innovation strategy to make all parts of the organization aware of new technologies that can improve business processes and bring in new customers. And why not? With the economy slowly improving, IT leaders are more optimistic that corporate purse strings will loosen up in 2015, and they’re eager to bring new technologies into the fold in addition to just keeping the lights on.

SOURCE: computerworld.com