Aging Equipment

Aging. Your technology, not your staff.

As the daughter of an accountant, I often heard about the aging of certain items. For example, how many years of depreciation something has versus how long it actually lasts. Most of us have probably heard that we should replace our mattresses at least every 8 years, right? How many of you are probably sleeping on something older than that? Why? Because the thought of replacing things is often daunting. What do I need to get? How much is it going to cost me? Do I REALLY need to get it replaced now or can I hold out for a while.

Let’s look at some of the technology you may have in your office or school and see what types of replacement ages you may be looking at and WHY it is so important to replace them, not just push them until the bitter end.

When talking about a personal computer, we have seen experts report everything from 3-5 years. “Typically, most total cost of ownership studies conclude that users should replace their computers at least every four years.” (LINK) In that same article is a great checklist that can help you determine if it’s time to replace.

Servers. This becomes a more difficult topic. “The key is to identify when increased performance potential, energy-efficiency requirements and reduced risk of hardware failure will justify a new purchase.” (LINK) Unless your IT staff is familiar with this topic, it can be something that is easily avoided. But avoiding an issue usually leads to problems in the future.

If you haven’t already done an equipment evaluation for your company, let our technicians help you through the process. Our professionals can analyze your needs and help you come up with a technology plan that allows you to spread out the cost of replacements and upgrades instead of taking huge chunks of your budget at a time.