3 big impacts of older hardware

Don’t let outdated equipment affect your bottom line

Technology is a huge asset to your business. It can help make your staff more productive, cut down on human error and lift your experience you offer your customers.

But, to enjoy all these benefits, your hardware and software should be kept up to date, to ensure they’re operating at peak performance. If not, there’s a genuine risk they could act like a handbrake on your business instead and cause a great deal of frustration for your customers and staff.

Old equipment chips away at profits

According to Inc.com, old equipment imposes direct and indirect costs that chip away at your cash flow and productivity, often without you even being aware of it. More than a third of businesses in a Techaisle study were found to be working with computers at least four years old.

The study found that small businesses spend ‘stealth’ costs of around $1,500 per year on each computer four years or older. In many cases, these costs can exceed the price of a new, faster and more reliable computer.
 
These older computers are also more prone to crashes that can mean losing critical data and leaving employees twiddling their thumbs for extended periods.
 
This should be a good enough reason to make sure you keep your hardware updated. However, there are some other big business, customer and technical impacts you could avoid by keeping your tech up to date.

Business impacts

1. FINANCIAL

Many small and medium business owners are guilty of trying to save money by extending the life of their outdated hardware. This is like crossing your fingers and hoping nothing bad will happen.
 
However, what you spend in upfront costs on new equipment may turn out to be less than the financial impact on your business if your hardware crashes. Aside from being forced to buy new hardware, other costs could include specialist fees to restore lost data, on top of lost productivity.

2. Reputation

Maintaining a good reputation is essential for any business. Computer equipment that freezes, or crashes, while your staff are busy with customers will negatively impact perceptions and give the impression you aren’t keeping up with the times.

3. Legal

Regulations and laws and around data privacy and protection are becoming a lot stricter. Outdated hardware that’s reaching the end of its life can put your customers’ data privacy at risk, with potential legal fallout.

Impact on customers and staff

1. Poor customer experience

We’ve all dealt with businesses who have outdated hardware and experienced the frustration and awkwardness while a staff member waits for the equipment to ‘unfreeze’. This is a sure recipe for a poor customer experience.

2. Bad staff experience

Not only this, but the pressure and embarrassment your staff members suffer from using outdated equipment are bad for staff motivation and morale. Technology should enable good staff engagement and retention, not kill it.

3. Reduced productivity

Outdated hardware can drastically affect your business’s productivity. If your equipment doesn’t run seamlessly, your staff will waste time waiting for slow computers. This may well mean they resort to slower, outdated practices to get their jobs done.

It also means client-facing staff will end up sorting out administrative issues in front of their computers, instead of engaging with customers.

Technical impacts

1. Security and under-performance

Outdated hardware will definitely impact on your business’s performance. Risks include the loss of vital customer data and vulnerability to cyber-attacks or ransomware, as well as reduced support from your hardware and software providers.
 
When your hardware reaches the end of its life, it no longer receives essential security updates. This makes it way more vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches. For example, Security Scorecard found that 58 percent of companies hit by breaches were using products past their end-of-life dates.

2. Compatibility

It becomes difficult to upgrade your software if your hardware is outdated. This is because the latest software is designed for newer operating systems. If you don’t run your vital business software on up-to-date equipment, you risk missing the latest features that could benefit your efficiency and profitability.
 
Don’t let outdated hardware impact negatively on your business, customers and staff, or security. Contact PC Pitstop to talk about an upgrade plan for your IT equipment.

If you’d like to talk first, just contact us or give us a call on 02 6584 1551.