10 Ways to Fight For Your Piece of the Budget Pie

Ever feel like you're running your own company within a company? If you have to constantly fight for your department's share of the annual budget pie, here are a few pieces of advice on how to get what you need to get the job done.

The advice comes from Chris Pick, chief marketing officer for Apptio, a vendor of technology business management software based in Bellevue, Wash.

• Tie any request into a core business initiative
• Make sure the fund will support new business projects for innovation, agility and margin expansion
• Make sure the funding will be used to optimize the department
• Understand that "finance" is the language of the business
• Know the current state of the business and how they treat these requests (sensitivities of free-cash flow, etc.)
• Understand your company's procurement process and how to work within it (negotiating the best rates, etc.)
• Describe the project in business, not technical, terms
• Explain the core services and capabilities that will be provided
• Have a plan to measure return on investment
• Leverage any industry benchmarks or peer sources to add credibility