I’ll second Nik and Douglas here and add a bit more nuance in having done a bunch of strategic reviews for museum of different sizes.
A single snapshot can mischaracterize things, so ideally you look at a few factors: - tech operating budget over the last few years (and projected 1-2 years ahead) - tech capital budget over the last few years ((and projected 1-2 years ahead) For operating budgets, the range seems to be 3-8%, with a sweet spot around 5%. Then it becomes important to look at the trends. If it’s been at the low-end for at least a few years for a *reasonably* healthy organization then I start to poke much harder at the existing infrastructure because *something* is outdated or in desperate need of overhaul. It might be hardware, it could be software systems, it could be staff that’s spread incredibly thin. If budgets are at the higher end, it’s a question of that’s real growth and/or if capitalized projects are being operationalized — one of the things that’s always concerning is when I see low operating budgets but high capital budgets because it doesn’t always demonstrate sustainable practice around tech. I’m also concerned about the high end of the range because I want to see that it’s reflected as a core component of the overall strategic plan or is it just momentary catch-up. My ideal scenario is that I see high capital budgets a few years prior, a peak in operating budgets about now, and then around 5-6% in the future (as a sustainable pattern of effort). Not all tech needs to be expensive and you can do things in a pretty scrappy fashion, but there’s no getting around some basic infrastructure costs and *seeing* the real support from the organization as part of the operating budget. -bw. > On Apr 14, 2016, at 10:21 AM, Nik Honeysett <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yes, operating. The lowest number in my unofficial survey was just over 3%, > which qualifies under Keir’s comment, I think. > > -nik > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Nik Honeysett | Chief Executive Officer > > BALBOA PARK ONLINE COLLABORATIVE > > M (805) 402-3326 P (619) 331-1974 E [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > 2131 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101 > > A technology collaboration that connects audiences to art, culture and > science. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > On Apr 14, 2016, at 10:15 AM, Douglas Hegley <[email protected]> wrote: > > If we are talking only about operating budget, Nik's figures match what > I've learned over the years. At Mia, we are at about that 5% figure. > Capital is a different story. Technology accounts for more than 30% of the > Capital budget year-over-year, and can vary widely. That figure is then > adjusted according to how much fundraising we can accomplish to offset the > hit on the museum's funds. > In other words, it's complicated! > - Douglas > > On Thu, Apr 14, 2016 at 12:04 PM, Nik Honeysett <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> My completely unofficial, back-of-the-napkin, finger-in-the-wind, >> two-year-old, but-from-reliable-sources (museum administrators) put the >> average at just under 5%, with some outliers like the Getty at about 8%. >> >> -nik >> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> Nik Honeysett | Chief Executive Officer >> >> BALBOA PARK ONLINE COLLABORATIVE >> >> M (805) 402-3326 P (619) 331-1974 E [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto: >> [email protected]> >> 2131 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101 >> >> A technology collaboration that connects audiences to art, culture and >> science. >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> >> On Apr 14, 2016, at 9:58 AM, Tim Rager <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Informal survey – I’m curious how much of your museum budget is dedicated >> to IT or Digital? Or does anyone know if there’s some sort of >> industry-wide benchmark report available that talks about this? >> >> >> >> >> >> TIM RAGER >> Director of Technology >> >> Seattle Art Museum >> p: 206.344.5278 >> seattleartmuseum.org<http://seattleartmuseum.org/> >> >> KEHINDE WILEY: A NEW REPUBLIC / Seattle Art Museum / Feb 11 – May 8 >> MOOD INDIGO: TEXTILES FROM AROUND THE WORLD / Asian Art Museum / Apr 9 – >> Oct 9 >> JOURNEY TO DUNHUANG / Asian Art Museum / Mar 5 – Jun 12 >> Get tickets at visitsam.org/tickets<http://visitsam.org/tickets> >> _______________________________________________ >> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer >> Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >> >> To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] >> >> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >> http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >> >> The MCN-L archives can be found at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer >> Network (http://www.mcn.edu <http://www.mcn.edu/>) >> >> To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >> http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l <http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l> >> >> The MCN-L archives can be found at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> >> >> > > > -- > Douglas Hegley > Director of Media and Technology > Minneapolis Institute of Art > 2400 Third Avenue South > Minneapolis, MN 55404 > (612) 870-3072 | [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> | > www.artsmia.org <http://www.artsmia.org/> > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu <http://www.mcn.edu/>) > > To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l <http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l> > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bruce Wyman [email protected] _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
