March 23, 2021
No matter how much you invest in the latest technology, it will continue to change and improve. It’s important to make preparing for that reality a part of your business’s master plan right from the beginning. But with proper planning and budgeting, you can turn a problem into an opportunity. Your end-of-life tech situation can become the chance to better serve the needs of both your customers and your IT staff.
In today’s complex business world, there are many reasons to upgrade your technology. The risks to your business are real, like losing vendor support, exposing your operations to cyberattacks, putting yourself in danger of noncompliance or seeing your productivity decrease as downtime increases. And we know you don’t want any of those to become your reality.
4 Essential Considerations for Upgrading Your Technology
To avoid the pitfalls of outdated tech, you need to create a game plan for your business. Keep these four essential considerations in mind:
1. Make necessary upgrades a key element of your technology plan.
Technology changes so quickly that it’s essential to make preparing for end-of-life refreshes a part of your strategic planning — in both the short-term and long-term. Given the impact on your budget and your services, you need feedback from your employees and customers, as well as the guidance of a managed services provider.
2. Decide on an implementation schedule.
Depending on the size of your business and the role of your technology, you should establish a schedule for replacing or upgrading your IT, including hardware, software and applications. You can replace it all at once, or you can phase it in gradually — or somewhere in between. Whatever you determine, the key is to create a timetable that works for your business and your budget to ensure your operations continue smoothly.
3. Take the opportunity to move to the cloud.
You could also use the need to upgrade or replace your technology as an opportunity to move some or all of your operations to the cloud. Turning to a cloud service provider to design, implement and manage your technology allows you to concentrate on your core vision, reduce infrastructure costs and pursue your business objectives.
4. Ensure proper training for your entire team.
Whenever you replace or upgrade your technology, whether it’s hardware or software, you must provide appropriate training for your entire staff. That means the employees who will be using the tech as well as the IT department, which will be deploying and maintaining it.
Create a Successful IT Strategy
The fast pace at which technology changes isn’t showing signs of slowing down any time soon. That’s why it’s essential to make the inevitable end-of-life tech needs part of your overall IT plan.
Your business can’t operate without technology. So, make that technology your friend by investing in it and maintaining it the right way with the help of an IT managed services provider. This approach will save you money in the long run.