Keeping Your IT Training Budget

Just about every IT pro knows that when times get tough, things like services, staffing, training, and a few others almost always meet the business end of the cost-cutting axe, at least to some degree.

The more IT pros and industry experts I speak with, the more I hear about training going by the way-side. It's been a problem before, particularly around retaining top IT workers, and it'll only loom larger in this recession.

But at least one CIO was able to hang on to his training budget: Albert Lulushi, CIO of the Enterprise IT Solutions division of government contractor L-3 Communications. "I've managed to hold the line there by making training development a non-negotiable part of the package," he told me. How? By making some painful trade-offs, but also by using some leverage.

Lulushi, like many CIOs, were forced to make certain percentage cuts to their budgets. To keep training, they'd have to slow down the roll out of a new application or curb the number of end users that get licenses right away.

But he also used leverage: since he was in "buying mode" with a few vendors, he negotiated a deal that included a week's worth of training, without any other sacrifices.

Some CIOs will take the cuts on the chin--they won't have a choice. But, "On the other hand, you have to go back to management and explain why you can't buy things and expect them to work magically," Lulushi says.

Tell us, IT execs: are you doing anything specific to keep training dollars available? Or do you not think it's worth it in this economy?