CRE
A reasonable monthly IT budget for a 25-employee commercial real estate firm with several properties is often $5,000 - $7,500 for fully managed IT, based on the typical $200 - $300 per user/month range. Plan additional project funding for property connectivity, cabling, cameras, access control, and major refreshes.
How much should a 25-person commercial real estate firm budget for managed IT?
For the employee side of the business, a practical starting point is the fully managed IT range of $200 - $300 per user/month. For 25 users, that produces a recurring baseline of $5,000 - $7,500 per month before property-specific capital work, specialized platforms, and unusual compliance requirements.
This recurring budget should cover the day-to-day technology ownership a CRE team needs: responsive help desk support, endpoint management, patching, cybersecurity oversight, cloud administration, backup coordination, and strategic guidance. The exact scope should be documented so leaders know what is included and what becomes a separate project.
CRE firms should avoid treating this number as a generic office-IT estimate. Your team may work from a headquarters, leasing offices, mobile devices, construction trailers, and multiple properties. Each environment introduces connectivity, security, and support needs that must be accounted for deliberately.
For 25 employees, the managed IT baseline is $5,000 - $7,500 per month before property infrastructure and one-time projects.
Takeaway: Start with a per-user managed IT baseline, then budget property technology as its own operating and capital plan.
What costs should be included beyond the per-user IT support budget?
A multi-property CRE organization has two connected technology estates: corporate IT and property technology. Corporate IT supports employees, financial systems, email, files, phones, and business workflows. Property technology supports connectivity, tenant-facing services, cameras, access control, risers, building operations, and vendor coordination.
Recurring spending may include internet circuits, firewall licensing, cloud subscriptions, VoIP, mobile management, cybersecurity tools, backup storage, and monitoring. Some of these may be bundled into a managed relationship; others may remain direct vendor charges. The budget should clearly identify which party owns each invoice and renewal.
Project spending commonly includes structured cabling, fiber backbone improvements, MDF and IDF cleanup, Wi-Fi redesigns, suite turn-ups, carrier handoffs, camera additions, access-control expansion, and equipment replacement. These are not predictable per-user costs, so they should not be hidden inside a help desk budget.
For example, commercial access control is priced separately from managed IT. The provided typical installed commercial access control range is $4500 - $5000 per device/month per door. A property team should validate scope, installation assumptions, lifecycle support, and any recurring services before approving a door-level access-control budget.
Takeaway: Separate employee IT, recurring property services, and property improvement projects so the budget stays understandable.
How should CRE leaders budget for several properties without overspending?
Use a portfolio inventory before setting a final number. List every property, suite, network room, internet circuit, firewall, switch, wireless access point, camera system, access-control panel, carrier demarcation point, and critical building or security device. Include ownership, support status, warranty, age, and renewal date.
Then classify each cost as shared corporate, property-specific recurring, or one-time capital. Shared corporate costs may include Microsoft 365 administration, endpoint security, help desk coverage, and executive reporting. Property-specific costs include carrier coordination, amenity Wi-Fi, tenant network segmentation, camera retention, and on-site low-voltage work.
The goal is standardization, not forcing every building into the same hardware overnight. A practical roadmap identifies the highest-risk buildings first: locations with unsupported equipment, unclear network ownership, poorly documented risers, weak wireless coverage, unmanaged cameras, or no tested recovery process.
Norcross and the broader I-85 business corridor create a practical reason to prioritize fast field coordination. Commercial buildings may include office, flex, light-industrial, mixed-use, and changing tenant environments. Reliable local support, structured cabling expertise, and carrier/riser coordination can prevent a suite turn-up or tenant move-in from becoming an avoidable delay.
GDS Technology positions its support around commercial real estate environments, including real-time local support, U.S.-based in-house support, structured cabling, cybersecurity, and property technology coordination. Review its commercial real estate technology services when building a portfolio support plan.
Takeaway: Fund a documented portfolio roadmap rather than reacting property by property after a failure.
What is the right balance between predictable monthly costs and project reserves?
A dependable CRE technology budget has both an operating component and a capital reserve. The operating component pays for the recurring support and protection that keep employees and properties functioning. The capital reserve pays for changes that extend, replace, or materially improve the environment.
| Budget category | What it should cover | How to plan it |
|---|---|---|
| Managed IT operating budget | Help desk, endpoint management, patching, cloud administration, cybersecurity coordination, backup oversight, and ongoing guidance | Use the $200 - $300 per user/month range for 25 employees: $5,000 - $7,500 monthly |
| Property recurring services | Internet circuits, monitoring, firewall renewals, managed Wi-Fi, camera storage, phone services, and vendor subscriptions | Track by property and contract renewal date |
| Capital projects | Structured cabling, fiber, network room remediation, hardware replacement, suite turn-ups, cameras, and access control | Forecast from the asset inventory and prioritize by operational risk |
| Contingency reserve | Urgent carrier work, storm-related repair, failed equipment, emergency security work, and unplanned tenant requirements | Set aside separately and replenish after approved use |
Do not use the monthly managed IT figure as a promise that every device, site visit, construction coordination task, or hardware replacement is automatically included. Clear boundaries protect both the CRE firm and its technology partner from surprise bills and delayed decisions.
Georgia organizations should also account for business interruption and breach response planning. Storms, utility events, carrier outages, stolen devices, and ransomware can affect leasing, property operations, accounting, and tenant communications. A recovery plan is a business-protection expense, not merely an IT document.
Security spending should address network segmentation between corporate users, tenants, guests, video surveillance, access control, and building systems. One compromised device or poorly isolated vendor connection should not create uncontrolled access to the rest of the portfolio.
GDS Technology can support this planning through managed IT services, cybersecurity services, and data backup and recovery services.
Takeaway: Predictable monthly support reduces operational disruption, while a separate reserve gives property leaders room to act on planned improvements.
How can a CRE firm tell whether its IT budget is actually buying dependable service?
The most useful budget discussion is not “What does IT cost?” but “What business risk and operational friction does this spend remove?” A good technology partner should help leadership connect spending to lease-ready suites, dependable property operations, faster employee support, stronger security controls, and fewer preventable emergencies.
Ask for a plain-language service map. It should state who supports each property, how issues are reported, who coordinates carriers and low-voltage vendors, where network documentation is stored, how new tenant or suite work is approved, and when leadership receives technology and risk recommendations.
Measure outcomes that matter to property and asset management: time to restore a business-critical outage, number of repeat issues, completion of patching and backup reviews, age of critical infrastructure, visibility into contracts, and readiness for tenant buildouts. Avoid vanity metrics that only count closed tickets without showing whether the underlying issue was resolved.
Real estate clients often value the communication behind the technical work. Therese, a commercial real estate client, said: “Brian clearly explains what is happening and shows you ways to help prevent the issue from happening again. He is great to work with.” That is the standard to seek: resolution plus prevention, explained clearly enough for the client to make informed decisions.
A local partner also needs to understand that a network problem can affect more than one employee. It can delay a tenant move-in, interrupt leasing activity, affect security systems, disrupt vendor access, or create friction between property management and building ownership.
For firms operating around Norcross, review GDS Technology’s Norcross IT support resources alongside a property-by-property inventory and risk review.
Takeaway: The right IT budget purchases accountability, prevention, and clear ownership - not just ticket volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is $5,000 - $7,500 per month enough for a 25-person CRE firm?
It is a reasonable managed IT baseline for 25 users at the provided $200 - $300 per user/month range. It is not a complete portfolio technology budget. Internet circuits, cameras, access control, carrier work, cabling, hardware replacements, and major site changes should be identified separately.
Should we budget IT by employee count or by property count?
Use both. Employee count is a practical foundation for recurring managed IT because it reflects help desk, endpoint, cloud, and cybersecurity needs. Property count and complexity determine the additional budget for connectivity, riser coordination, security systems, network rooms, tenant services, and on-site project work.
What property technology risks should be funded first?
Fund the risks that can disrupt operations or expose the portfolio first: unsupported firewalls and switches, undocumented carrier handoffs, weak network segmentation, unreliable backups, unmanaged remote access, failing network-room equipment, and untested recovery procedures. A documented inventory helps leadership prioritize based on business impact rather than urgency alone.
How often should a commercial real estate IT budget be reviewed?
Review the operating budget monthly for invoice, support, and renewal visibility, then review the portfolio roadmap at least quarterly. Reassess before acquisitions, tenant improvements, major move-ins, lease renewals involving technology commitments, or planned capital projects. Technology planning should follow the property business plan, not trail it.
