4 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Tech
Look around your workplace. What kind of technology does your business run on? Do you see an array of sleek, state-of-the-art monitors or clunky desktops that should have been retired in the late '90s? Does your equipment operate seamlessly, or do crashes happen with predictable regularity?
Hardware upgrades remain one of the best ways for businesses to enhance productivity. At the same time, sticker shock deters many firms from investing in new technology. They put off needed updates as long as possible for one simple reason: The cost of staying on the cutting edge is high.
Sometimes, it's hard to justify the expense of new technology. Other times, the cost of not adapting can be just as high as maintaining the status quo. So how do you know when investing in new hardware is worth it?
Every business has different needs, but these four telltale signs mean it's time to upgrade.
1. You're spending as much money on temporary fixes as you would investing in new hardware.It's easy to focus on how expensive new devices can be. But there are also costs associated with keeping your old infrastructure in place.
To see whether you'd be better off investing in new technology or sticking with the old, you'll need to consider the total cost of ownership, or TCO. Buying a new laptop is just one part of the TCO. Factor in technical support, maintenance, and labor costs, and you're looking at a much bigger number.
According to one consulting firm, the purchase price of new technology represents only 20% of TCO; the rest involves aftermarket expenses. And guess what? Old tech is like a used car - the longer you run it, the more expensive it is to maintain.
Base your tech investments on an honest accounting of TCO, not sticker shock. And keep in mind innovative solutions like those at SellYourMac, where trading in your used Apple equipment can help defray the cost of purchasing new devices.
2. Your outdated hardware is affecting your bottom line.When older technology slows down, so does your profitability.
Think about it: When your computers take three minutes to start up every day instead of one, you lose around 500 minutes of productivity per worker every year. The extra seconds an outdated device takes to download and upload information adds up, too. Downtime for system crashes, in particular, can be incredibly costly: One 2014 analysis found these interruptions cost businesses up to $5,000 a minute and $300,000 an hour.
Don't be shortsighted. Slow, inefficient technology might be hemorrhaging the very savings you think you're banking by using old equipment.
3. Your security is at risk.One of the worst things that can happen to any company is a cybersecurity breach.
Target lost more than $200 million making amends for a 2013 hack. Credit reporting agency Equifax saw its clean-up costs eclipse $1.4 billion after a massive data compromise. IBM recently fixed the average price tag for fixing a breach at just south of $4 million. That doesn't even count the damage to a company's reputation.
Few companies can afford catastrophes like that. Yet they prefer to maintain familiar but outdated technology that's more vulnerable to hackers.
Take a serious inventory of your security risks. If old tech represents more of a liability than an asset, don't take chances. Investing in new tech that's more resistant to attack is a wise course of action.
4. You fear running new programs and integrations.App developers and software companies are constantly innovating, opening up new vistas of possibility for business.
Does that excite you, or are you worried about your technology's ability to support new functionalities?
If your old systems make you more anxious than enthusiastic about time-saving integrations, you might want to consider an upgrade. Having new tech can become even more of a game changer if you're scaling up or retooling how you run your business.
Just because you can get by with the same old technology doesn't mean you should. Before making any decisions, take a full account of your IT costs and benefits. Don't be so blinded by the high price tag of new technology that you ignore the cost of maintaining old technology. Explore options like trading in your devices to help bring down overhead. Take these decisions seriously: Making wise choices about tech upgrades now will benefit you down the road.
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