3 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Business Technology
Technology is constantly evolving, leaving many companies struggling to decide when is the right time to invest in new business technology.
However, one survey from Spiceworks demonstrated that, on average, 37 percent of IT budgets in 2016 will be directed at new hardware, such as laptops, servers, and desktops. This underlines how IT departments are investing a significant amount of money into new business technology, and your company needs to keep pace.
The good news is that there are very clear cases when upgrading business technology equipment makes sense for growing revenue and your business. Here are three signs it’s time to upgrade now.
Your Company Is Rapidly Growing
Rapid growth often requires drastic changes, and business technology is usually one of them. As you onboard new employees, create new departments or even add additional store locations, you’re going to need technology that helps you scale your business.
Despite the necessity of IT upgrades, what you don’t want to do is rush to purchase new technology just for the sake of it. First, you need to thoroughly assess your current technology and plan out how it can fulfill your future business objectives. Then, consider starting with a small initial investment and then scale up only once you’re comfortable.
Growth is often coupled with high capital expenditure, which is why your technology investment needs to be as cost-effective as possible. That’s why you should also be setting a clear budget to help you buy only the business technology you truly need.
Your Company Has a Clear Problem
Solving problems is what technology is supposed to do. However, without the right upgrades, your current technology may be a clear bottleneck in your company’s operations.
If you find your computers are too slow, that you have a lack of mobile options for your company’s workforce, or you feel that your network isn’t able to handle your web traffic, then these are the sort of problems that signal it’s time to invest in business technology.
This process requires you to really rely on your managers and employees to understand what your company’s needs are. Solicit feedback and ask employees what kind of issues they’re facing on a daily basis. An IT specialist can then develop a better game plan based on clear internal data.
Your IT specialist may find that your current on-premise platform simply doesn’t work, and you need a cloud solution for Big Data capabilities, more storage and reduced software licensing costs. In other cases, your specialist may find that that new digital video or photo editing software you bought needs more powerful computers to run efficiently. It’s all about knowing what your employees need and then delivering it.
Your Company Is Changing Directions
Companies often have changing objectives and goals. You might be looking to make your workforce more mobile, which might necessitate purchasing new smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
Perhaps you want to set up a new customer service center, which could benefit from investing in VoIP technology. In other circumstances, your small business might want to begin mining customers for data, which might require upgrading your server capacity.
No matter where your business is going, it’s important to decide whether you should simply upgrade or purchase entirely new equipment.
For slow computers and laptops, you might only have to upgrade to a faster SSD hard drive instead of purchasing entirely new equipment outright.
For cost-effective VoIP and communications technology, perhaps you can choose a hosted PBX cloud solution instead of purchasing expensive hardware. Oftentimes, smart but affordable fixes are all you need, such as adding wireless capabilities to a standalone PC by purchasing a low-cost USB adapter.