If you have not upgraded your server in a long time, it is time to consider whether a server upgrade is indeed overdue. So, what are the usual signs that it is time to change office hardware? Let’s find out.
Is the Business Running Out of Digital Space?
If your employees are telling you that they are running out of space to store all that digital data, then it’s likely good news. This probably means that your company is growing, and you need a server upgrade to sustain that growth. You may need to make a partial or complete shift to cloud server technology and bring your company up to date.
In case you are already using a cloud server, you will need to upgrade your plan. However, don’t end up paying an exorbitant fee in either situation, because that is precisely what small business owners do, due to their inexperience in IT. Work with your IT partner and cloud services provider to reduce expenses, while boosting server performance simultaneously.
Is the System Sluggish?
Very few things in business can be worse than a slow and sluggish system. If you notice this in your own company software, this could be a result of:
- Poor software selection/development
- Incompatibility with associated applications
- Inadequately powered hardware, outdated server
Your IT team/partner should be able to help you determine the problem easily. If they deem a slow, outdated server to be the issue, then you will know it is time to power up the company server. Modern software applications will draw more resources than their older versions because they are also significantly more productive. The server hardware/allotted processing power should at least be sufficient to handle the company’s current software platforms and the associated applications, without slowing them down.
Is Your Server’s Warranty Expiring Soon?
For physical servers, the warranty period holds more meaning than the average small business might believe. The warranty period is usually based on a rough estimation of how long the current hardware will remain valid for the client. This is exactly why you will find that concurrent, powerful servers have a longer warranty period at the time of their purchase than average or medium powered servers.
The manufacturers and sellers are well aware that, once the estimated time period is over, the client will start to complain about problems that they will not be able to solve, without upgrading the hardware from their own pockets. Computers and even software investments are depreciating assets, if they are assets at all, and that’s the reason even small companies are rapidly shifting to cloud servers. It rids them of the annoying expense upgrading the server every few years.
Some companies will offer extended support for their server systems at an added price, but those extended warranties will not cover the expensive parts just because they are now outdated. Without physical damage, servers can be maintained and kept running for a decade or more, but that will not bode well for your company!
