It seems like we’ve been looking at a lot of old computer gear lately. There’s many reasons why people hold onto their computer systems longer than they really should… The current machine is running fine (not most of the time but sometimes), cost of the new gear and upgrading, the hardware upgrade also requiring upgrades to other software, and the hassle and learning curve on what’s often going to be a new operating system and/or applications are just a few.
No one really wants to spend money fixing something that’s not broken, particularly if that’s going to come with disruption and a learning curve.
But we’ve learned through the years that keeping up with technology is really a matter of planning and executing upgrades according to the 3-4-5 rule. You should upgrade critical and high performing systems every three years if you want to be out in front on performance, maximize reliability and uptime, and keep up with changes in software.
Upgrade every four years -- and in most cases, you’ll be keeping up. Wait five years or more, and it’s very likely you’re already living with the performance and reliability issues that older technology can bring. If you’ve got some proprietary software, chances are good your vendor is pushing or pulling you to upgrade. Waiting that long can also increase the time and complexity of the upgrade once it’s time to do it.
The extra year from four years old to five+ is where we spend much of our support time, trying to stabilize and/or squeeze a little more performance out of a system that really ought to be replaced.
Clients using our IT Vigilance service can extend the effective useful life of their systems out another year or more in many cases, but ultimately no service is going to make a slow machine fast -- or able to run the newest software.
If you’d like us to review your systems inventory and help you stay ahead in business, by staying ahead in technology, let us know.
