Story time: Imagine you’re at your desk, trying to get a bunch of work done, and your computer doesn’t work because it’s older than the new guy two cubicles over from you.
Little too real? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! The amount of old computers in the workforce is way too high! It’s something I see all the time, and it can get pretty frustrating.
After serving time in the National Guard as an infantryman, I have learned that retention is everything. Keeping your employees happy and their desire to not only grow themselves but grow the organization should be a must.
Time and time again, I see employees get frustrated with their computers and stress because they feel they won’t get their work done before the end of the day.
Employees are an investment, spending the time and energy to make sure they are fully equipped with updated computers will set you up for a bigger cashout in the end.
It’s no secret, technology is changing quicker and quicker every year. With the drastic changes and upgrades to technology, older machines may not able to handle them.
Old computers are like old cars. Chances are, without putting in new parts and rebuilding the motor, a 1985 Buick isn’t going to beat even a soccer mom’s van in a race. Don’t be the “grandma” car on the highway, be the supercar.
One of the biggest factors contributing to 3rd party programs not working is actually your machine. I know, I know, no way can it be your machine, surely the website is down. Guess again.
If you’re one of the people who don’t upgrade until it’s absolutely necessary, I’m sure you have encountered this a couple of times. While you’re not upgrading, others are. By not upgrading your machines, you may fall behind and not have compatible machines.
However, when you’re upgrading, always check with your 3rd party programs to see if they are compatible with the newest OS.
As an example, I once installed Windows Server 2016, but Quickbooks wasn’t quite ready for it, and we had to roll back the version of the server.
Although all of these reasons why you should upgrade point to this, it goes without being told. Upgrading your machines and having up-to-date operating systems can result in more efficient workers and ultimately more work getting done.
Sound crazy, right? I constantly hear, “I have to wait about 15 minutes a day for my computer to warm up”. If that’s true, employees spend roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes a week waiting on their machines to just boot up.
Assuming that it takes that long to boot up, I’m sure other processes are just as slow. After a week's time, employees could spend roughly 3 hours just waiting for things to load on their computers. Multiply that by 52 weeks a year, you're left with roughly 156 work hours, wasted. Now, say an employee makes $20 an hour, that’s $3,120 a year (which is more than a new computer costs).
That’s just one employee!
Developing a 3-5 year replacement plan.
If you’re not already on a 3 to 5 year replacement plan, you should be. Why? By keeping your machines on a replacement plan, you are actively upgrading machines and keeping a healthy cycle of machines flowing into operation every year.
To clarify, I’m not saying you need to do a complete 100% overhaul every 3 or 5 years. Every year, your company should budget to replace at least 33% of the computers in use. Depending on the size of the company, this number may fluctuate.
Obviously, the bigger the company, the closer to the 5 year mark your replacement plan is going to be oriented. Not sure how to get started? Give us a call!
Upgrading your computers can be a nightmare … trust me, I know. However, being behind the times, and getting stuck waiting and waiting and waiting is even a bigger pain.
Keep your employees happy, your IT guys happy, and keep those new machines flowing! If you’re not sure how to get started, click the button below to contact us!
(Editor's note: This article was originally published in October 2018 and was recently updated.)