Tip of the Week: To Upgrade, or Not to Upgrade, Here are the 5 Questions

Your business needs technology to function properly, but it can be unpredictable and challenging to manage. The slightest discrepancy, like an unexpected hardware failure or software hiccup, can throw off your business’s IT budget and potentially cause disastrous downtime. This doesn’t mean that upgrading your hardware and software has to be hard, though.

With a little know-how, some common sense, and Macro Systems by your side, the next time you upgrade your technology, you’ll know for sure whether or not it will benefit your organization before you implement it. Here’s a handy checklist that can help you understand when it’s time to go all-in on new technology solutions.

Software
When considering changing your business’s software solution strategy, you should make sure to ask yourself the following questions about your organization’s infrastructure:

• Is your current operating system supported? In other words, are you currently receiving patches and security updates from Microsoft for your servers and workstations? If not, your business could be exposing itself to malware, viruses, and other nasty online threats.
• Do you have any legacy software that’s dependent on specific operating systems? One major reason that organizations don’t upgrade their technology consistently is because they just can’t do so without sacrificing legacy software. This happens when a piece of software isn’t compatible with more recent operating systems. Therefore, you need to ensure that you aren’t using legacy software that will be complicated by a switch to a new operating system. Is this software supported? What’s preventing you from getting on the most recent version?

Hardware
If you’re considering upgrading your business’s hardware solutions, consider the following before taking any drastic measures:

• How old is your hardware? Have you upgraded your workstations and servers over the past two or three years? If not, you might be in need of a hardware upgrade. The older the hardware, the more chance there is to fall victim to expensive hardware failure and crippling data loss.
• Are any of your workstations or servers operating below specifications? If there's something wrong with your business’s technology, you might think that upgrading to a more recent model can resolve the issue. However, if you’re experiencing slow network speeds or other technical difficulties, you could be dealing with other problems that don’t necessarily require a hardware upgrade to fix.
• Has your business been experiencing growth? If your business is growing at a fast pace, your network might have difficulty keeping up with the demand. Therefore, you may need to upgrade your network’s hardware in order to facilitate the amount of traffic it experiences. Otherwise, you could be dealing with a slow network and decreased productivity.

If your organization is having difficulty ensuring that your technology systems are consistently updated, Macro Systems can help. Our trusted professionals have the skills necessary to provide clear consultation that can help your business approach your next upgrade round with ease. For more information about updating your technology systems, give Macro Systems a call at (703) 359-9211; and be sure to subscribe to our blog for more great tech tips.