When should you upgrade your hardware?

The question of when to spend money, and what on, is one that hangs perpetually over IT departments. Of course, every time the issue comes up, the circumstances and arguments will be different. This isn’t a question that can be answered once and for all.

There are, however, considerations that apply to almost all discussions of this type. There are plenty of business clichés about wasting money, and while the subject may not be reducible to a pithy maxim, there are principles you can keep in mind – concerning both the business and technology ends of the matter – that can help you avoid waste.

Spend smart – or not at all

The first principle is that hoary old saying about what your time is worth. Switching to a new system might save you a few hundred quid a year, but that’s not a worthwhile economy if you’re going to need a team of expert engineers to spend several weeks handling the changeover. Conversely, if you need an urgent solution to an expensive problem, don’t spend weeks chasing the last few percent in a discount, or putting potential suppliers through drawn-out purchasing processes. Establish your