Do you know what the real cost of maintaining older PCs is?

As with many businesses, each individual one is looking to achieve more with the resources that they have at their disposal. 

However, the problem is that most business owners are under the impression that the overall goal is to make purchases last for a number of years which should also be applied to computers. It goes without saying that the costs of doing so can increase during this time. Let’s delve into the costs associated with maintaining older PCs. 

1) Older PCs are expensive to repair over replacing them 

The average lifetime for the majority of PCs is usually four years. After this age, PCs are then more costly to repair and maintain than they are to buy new ones. This viewpoint was backed up by a study conducted by Intel who revealed that the cost to repair and maintain older PCs is 1.6X higher than getting new ones. In addition to this, a study more recently conducted by Microsoft showed that the cost of not replacing a PC that is older than 4 years more than doubles the cost of simply getting a new computer. 

2) Older PCs reduce employee productivity & efficiency 

Microsoft’s research also stated that a PC is that is over four years old is more than 2.7x likely to require repairing. To put this statement into quantifiable figures, this means that your business can lose up to 112 hours of productivity. Whereas on the other hand, newer PCs that require repairing will mean that the above productivity lost will be immediately halved. 

3) Older PCs are a liability when it comes to security 

This may seem obvious but older computers are more than 2x likely to experience some of the following problems: 

• Slow to restart 
• Poor battery life 
• Disk drive and application crashes 
• Connectivity issues 

The problems identified above can dramatically increase the chances of your PCs being subject to a cyber-attack. Therefore to avoid this, regularly updating PCs and hardware can not only project your business from security breaches but also to improve your overall productivity. 

4) Older PCs portray your business as old fashioned 

If your business has out of date computers makes it look like you are very old fashioned to your customers. If customers visit your business and see you on slow and dated computers, see your struggles with slow presentations or technical issues, they are more likely to think that your business is not in the best place to deliver the services that they require off you. 

4) Purchasing new PCs can change the game for your business in the long run 

Granted that saving money is a good short term strategy for your business, it’s important not to overlook the long term where you could save more. Let’s give you a scenario, you are looking at the costs of managing older PCs, the expensive nature of both repairs and upgrades, lower productivity, increased security risks and the bad impression that old fashioned machines have on customers, looking to regular update your PCs and devices could prove a very shrewd investment indeed. 

What benefits can a new device give to your business? 

• Reduce your employees anger at poor technology 
• Improve the overall efficiency for your business with the ability to get things done quicker 
• Take advantage of the latest in applications and operating systems 
• Completely eliminate any problems with the interactions between both older and newer PCs 
• Give your clients the wow factor by showing how up to date with technology you are as a business 

Next Steps? 

If you are a business that is looking to replace/upgrade out of date PCs or wanting to learn how Advantage can save you up to 15% on your Microsoft licenses then please do get in touch with our team of IT experts now. 

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