The Major Benefits of Replacing Old Hardware: What You Need to Know

As the financial year draws to a close once again, many companies have significant portions of their budget left over and, as a result, are looking for the best possible ways in which to spend it. Despite this, far too many business leaders continue to overlook one of the most obvious — and effective — ways to do precisely that.

Replacing their old computer hardware and other SME technology with newer, faster, and better alternatives.

It's something of a touchy subject for many people, as oftentimes the logic is some variation of "what do I need new hardware for? What I have works just fine. It may be a little slower, it may cost a bit more money to maintain and it may cause more headaches than it used to, but it still gets the job done, right?"

Sure. But is it getting the job done in the best way possible in a way that preserves relationships with your clients and helps cement the competitive advantage your organisation needs to survive? Probably not. Not by a long shot.

In truth, there are a myriad of different reasons why you should make it a priority to replace your old hardware as the financial year winds down that are certainly worth exploring. 

Reliability, or a Lack Thereof

The number one reason why you should replace your older hardware as soon as you possibly could ultimately comes down to just how reliable (or not) your current assets truly are.

Older hardware is simply more prone to crashes, slow performance and other inefficiencies— meaning that it will essentially get harder for your employees to do their jobs every day, leading to a reduction in both productivity and the quality of the work that they're able to perform. But more than that, these types of issues also create situations where downtime is more or less an inevitability — and the average cost of just a single critical application failure has recently hit between $500,000 and $1 million per hour.

So not only will it cost you far more money to maintain these legacy resources than it would if you chose to upgrade, you're also harming your performance AND creating opportunities for catastrophic downtime as well. All of this may lead to a time when your SME technology can no longer act as the solid foundation for your business that it needs to be. 

It's Having a Negative Affect on Your Performance in More Ways Than One

Equally important is the fact that modern day applications are almost entirely based on current hardware specifications. Essentially, that software you and your employees depend on relies totally on newer hardware and technology advancements that you simply don't have. By replacing your older hardware with newer equipment, you avoid issues with performance entirely — like the fact that the relative performance of an average IT asset declines by a massive 22% in year three of its life, 33% in year four and a startling 59% by year seven.

Your Cybersecurity Efforts Depend on It

Another major reason why you'll want to replace your old hardware sooner rather than later also comes down to IT security — a topic no business should ignore for long.

End-of-life technology is no longer actively supported by its vendor with upgrades, bug fixes, patches, security updates, and other types of technical support. This means that every old device on your network is a potential vulnerability just waiting to be taken advantage of.

In an era where the average cost of a data breach worldwide has reached $3.62 million per incident, this is the type of risk that you can’t afford to take. 

Save on Upgrade Costs with Tax Credits

Last but not least, replacing your aging hardware now during the run up to the end of the financial year while you may still have leftover finances, gives you the chance to take advantage of a tax credit type that doesn't come along too often.

What most businesses may not realise is that provided that your business turnover is less than $10 million, you could possibly write off any assets that cost less than $20,000 each year as a part of your 2017–2018 tax return. The implications of this from a financial perspective alone means that your decision to upgrade your hardware not only augments your security and leads to operational efficiency, it is also one that pays for itself.

Powernet: The Latest Hardware Solutions for your Needs

We can help you write a Technology Strategy, including an IT budget and determining what type of hardware is right for your business. We know it's more important than ever to have fast technology available for your team, and that includes the computers that enable them to do their work in the office and at home. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help your business get the right computer hardware in place.