Hardware Integrity

Your business’s computer and network hardware is just as important as the software and critical data that it runs. It isn’t enough only to monitor the data and behavior on your network, having a business plan for reviewing your IT assets and scheduling regular hardware replacements is vital to maintaining the efficiency and reliability of the work you do.

There are numerous risks that come with an aging, obsolete IT hardware infrastructure. When a computer or network device fails after its warranty has expired, your business may not be able to recover quickly. The middle of a river is the wrong place to build a boat, and an abrupt hardware failure is incredibly disruptive and time consuming. Rebuilding a server from scratch or ordering a new firewall and reconfiguring security policies can take days. Even a basic workstation being down can stop an employee’s productivity in its tracks. Warranties offer guaranteed response times from manufacturer’s technical resources and replacement components. Having manufacturer warranties in place for all workstations, servers, and network infrastructure is vital in cases where your IT assets have to be repaired or replaced quickly.

Barring a sudden loss of a failed computer or network device, your business can still be compromised by aging IT infrastructure in more subtle ways. Computers and servers that aren’t appropriate for the uses to which they are put incurs lost productivity due to underpowered or obsolete hardware. Your office workers can spend over 2000 hours per year in front of their workstations, and the hidden cost of slow or unreliable machines can be staggering. The demands of software only increase over time, straining the capabilities of computers as they age. And as internet speeds increase, aging network firewalls and switches can become bottlenecks on your network even though your internet provider has promised gigabit speeds.

It’s essential to any comprehensive business technology plan to coordinate with your IT provider to plan for changes in your IT environment. Forecast replacements 2-3 years in advance, and implement those replacements on schedule to protect against the painful expense of replacing an entire aging IT infrastructure on short notice.