Free cybersecurity budget calculator for Irish SMEs. Get a personalised spending recommendation based on your sector, size, and risk profile.
How much should your business actually spend on cybersecurity? Too little leaves you exposed. Too much wastes money on tools you do not need. The answer depends on your size, sector, and risk profile.
This free planner uses benchmarks from Gartner, ENISA, and Irish industry data to calculate a realistic cybersecurity budget for your specific business — with a clear breakdown of where to allocate it.
What You Will Get
- Recommended annual cybersecurity budget for your business
- Detailed allocation across 8 security categories
- Gap analysis vs your current spending
- Per-employee benchmark comparison
What the Planner Asks
- Approximate annual revenue
- Number of employees
- Sector — healthcare/pharma, financial services, professional services, technology/SaaS, manufacturing, retail/e-commerce, education, public sector, or other
- Current security posture — from no formal security measures, through basic antivirus and firewall only, to a mature programme with continuous monitoring
- Whether you are subject to regulatory requirements (NIS2, GDPR special categories, PCI-DSS, etc.)
- How many staff work remotely or hybrid
- Optionally, what you currently spend on cybersecurity per year
How the Recommendation Is Calculated
The planner first estimates your IT budget as a percentage of revenue, calibrated by sector (Gartner benchmark: 3.5-6% for SMEs). It then applies a security share of that IT budget (Gartner: 10-15% for SMEs), adjusted upward for regulatory requirements and a significant remote workforce, and scaled by your current maturity level — organisations with no formal security measures need to invest proportionally more, while mature programmes need less.
If you provide your current spend, the planner shows a gap analysis: how far your spending is below (or above) the recommended level for a business of your size and sector. It also gives a per-employee benchmark figure.
Recommended Budget Allocation Across 8 Categories
Endpoint & Network Security (25%)
Antivirus, EDR, firewall, email filtering, DNS protection.
Identity & Access Management (15%)
MFA, password management, SSO, privileged access.
Backup & Recovery (15%)
Offsite backups, disaster recovery, business continuity.
Security Awareness Training (12%)
Staff training, phishing simulations, security culture.
Compliance & Governance (10%)
Policies, risk assessments, audits, GDPR/NIS2 compliance.
Monitoring & Detection (10%)
Log monitoring, vulnerability scanning, threat detection.
Incident Response (8%)
IR plan, retainer, tabletop exercises, forensics capability.
Cyber Insurance (5%)
Cyber liability insurance premium.
Quick Wins for Any Budget
- Enable MFA everywhere — free on most platforms, prevents 99.9% of credential attacks
- Patch within 14 days — most exploited vulnerabilities have patches available
- Quarterly phishing simulations — from €500/year, biggest ROI in security spending
- Test your backups monthly — a backup you have not tested is not a backup
- Write an incident response plan — even a 2-page plan reduces breach cost by 15%
Methodology
This budget recommendation is based on industry benchmarks from Gartner IT Key Metrics Data, ENISA SME Cybersecurity Guidelines, and Irish industry data. IT budget percentages are calibrated by sector, and security allocation is adjusted for regulatory requirements, remote workforce, and current maturity level. Actual requirements may vary based on specific business circumstances.
Sources: Gartner IT Key Metrics Data 2024, ENISA Cybersecurity for SMEs, Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2024.
We help Irish SMEs get maximum security value from their budget. No vendor bias — just practical, independent advice. CISA, CISSP, and CISM certified. Results include a downloadable PDF report and the option to book a free budget review call.