My company last year upgraded its computer equipment and programs for the year 2000.  I think it's high time we upgrade again, but I'm having a tough time convincing my associates that it's necessary.  I say the further we put upgrading off the more it's going to cost us in the long run. Any encouraging thoughts?

We agree with you. Older PCs and peripherals that don't support today's technology standards are not serving your organization or its employees well. For example, older PCs can be more vulnerable to security attacks from viruses, worms and hackers.  That's partly because they may not be running the latest antivirus and spyware software and partly because some employees tend to disable this software if it makes older machines run slower than they already do.  Older PCs also have less product and software support from vendors and are more prone to breakdowns as well as time-consuming software fixes and repairs. Smart businesses upgrade their systems and software when the total cost of ownership (TCO) for upgraded systems becomes significantly lower than maintaining existing ones.  Older PCs past their useful life may well be costing your company far more than their actual replacement cost.

The only way to know if you're losing money when you could be saving it is to thoroughly examine all the costs for your current system and compare it to the TCO for upgrading.  That means looking at not just the purchase price but the cost of acquiring, owning, operating and maintaining your PCs and related equipment over their useful life.  You may also be able to save money when you upgrade by standardizing on a "one size fits all" PC specification, so what users learn and work with on one machine applies to all.  Talk it over with your IT Business Pro. IT won't be long before you're on your way to a PC upgrade solution that makes good sense for your business.