Do you need new hardware?

Paramount Network Systems
704-933-1475
800-598-6074

Do You need new hardware?

You have just been told a computer needs to be completely upgraded to a new machine. Of course if we are talking about a number of computers the cost is starting to grow real fast. There are still many people and organizations who are still using computers over ten years old. Some only use these machines to type documents or reports. The question for them is "how fast can one type?" If they have good ole DOS and Wordperfect 5.1 what else do they need?
If the computer (or hardware) is doing everything you need but maybe just a little slow, will the costs to upgrade be offset by an increase in productivity. That is what is called (ROI) Return on Investment. If it costs $2,000 to purchase new hardware, another $500 to install necessary software and $500 for support, training, misc. expenses we have a total cost of $3000. For some a minor expense and for others their entire IT budget for the year. Now if these computers are for two workers being compensated at $30/hour and the newer systems will save about twenty hours a month for printing reports it will take three years to recoup the investment. By that time, they may need new computers again! It is in the analysis of what will be gained that has a strong bearing on whether you will get back your investment.
Another consideration is with the reason for recommending new hardware. Performance is one issue but that may be obtained through configuration and proper maintenance of the system. Often performance can deteriorate because of a fragmented drive. It can be caused by too many services running although many of those services are unused. Many viruses, worms and spyware may be undetected by current anti-virus but be ruining system performance. All of these issues can be resolved fairly easily at little or no cost. Integrated utilities or free utilities may repair many of these problems and boost performance. If proper maintenance is not done the same problems may come up later with the new hardware.
Sometimes it is a lack of disk space that seems to call for an additional hard disk drive or a new system. Very rarely do people remove applications or data no longer used or out of date. Yet these can sometimes make up the majority of space used. Disk or File/folder Compression can be used to reduce space used depending on the file type. Data may be able to be moved between desktop and servers to reallocate space more efficiently. Older data kept only for archiving purposes might be moved to tape or CD-ROM.
Server space often is filled with saved email messages or non-work related (music, game, etc.) files. Setting a date for email to be removed by the server can reduce the size of mailboxes. Setting per user space limits will keep users from taking advantage of available shared space. Performing an audit of the top disk space users might lead to recognizing the largest offenders.
Device support can often be an issue. There are a number of inexpensive expansion (PCI, AGP, etc.) cards that can be used to add support for newer device technologies. If it is a failure of a built-in device (modem, network card, etc.) most systems can use an expansion card to replace the built-in device.
If the hardware is part of an upgrade strategy including to a new operating system you might want to look at whether the OS upgrade is really needed. Sometimes Linux can be used as an upgrade path as Linux can perform well on older hardware. The requirements for a new OS may turn into only requirements for a specific application.
You must determine what is driving the need for new hardware. Often it is an issue that can be resolved through other means. Even if you do not have the technical expertise within your organization it is a fraction of the cost to have someone come in to do the work then purchasing new hardware. Further if you decide you do need new hardware you want to be sure it will fulfill your requirements for up to three years especially fulfilling for that period the demands (performance, disk space, device support) that drove it to begin with.