Hardware and Software Upgrades

Choosing the optimal upgrade strategy

Keeping your office’s IT systems up-to-date is about more than implementing a 5-year maximum hardware replacement cycle – although this is a good place to start. You also need to make sure all software upgrades are implemented on your PCs and servers. This will protect you from security vulnerabilities, and give you access to all functionality and performance improvements.

You also need to decide which of the latest technological developments have the potential to enhance your business’ efficiency and effectiveness, and which are just likely to be costly fads.

Cost is of course a primary consideration in decisions about hardware and software upgrades. ComplexITy will work with you to really understand your business’ requirements and ensure that our upgrade recommendations deliver a strong return on investment.

Software upgrades and updates

Updating or replacing software is usually cheaper and easier than hardware replacement. Also, hardware that you believe to be performing poorly may in fact be perfectly adequate, but hampered by software issues.

We can carry out ad-hoc or periodic assessments to check that your devices are correctly configured, protected against viruses and malware, and have all relevant operating system and software upgrades. We can also advise if alternative software may offer the same functionality, but perform better on your existing hardware.

Hardware upgrades and replacement

Due to the pace of hardware evolution, and the fact that older hardware can have many failure points, it is often more cost effective to replace rather than repair old hardware. When this is the case, or when it is time for a periodic hardware replacement, we can advise you on the best current options.

If your business’s computer usage is relatively light – e.g. largely word processing and internet usage – a cheaper hardware upgrade may be the best option. If your usage is more intensive, such as video editing, it may be wise to invest in more powerful hardware. It may even be worth replacing PCs with new types of device, such as tablets or Chromebooks, depending upon their expected usage scenarios. We will help you make these decisions so you get the hardware you need at the best price.

We are independent of any manufacturer, so any recommendations we give you regarding purchases or upgrades are completely impartial.

Virtualisation

If your business utilises local servers, you may be able to benefit from virtualisation technology as an alternative to purchasing additional hardware. This enables one physical server to host multiple virtual servers. Server virtualisation has the following benefits:

• Better hardware utilization, leading to reduced overall hardware costs
• Easier, centralised management and maintenance
• Lower energy costs

Of particular note is the improved reliability of a virtualised environment:

• Without virtualisation, if a physical server has a hardware problem, all services provided by it will be degraded until that particular machine is repaired
• With virtualisation, if a physical server has a hardware problem, the virtual servers located on it can be rapidly moved to another working physical server, so there will be minimal disruption to services

Setting up, or migrating to, a virtualised environment requires detailed expertise, and the options can depend significantly on the particular hardware of your servers. ComplexITy have broad experience in this area, so we can enable your business to painlessly migrate to a virtualised environment.