As a managing partner here at ComputerSupport.com, my duties include consulting with our team about our own IT upgrade planning.

If you’re a CFO, I suspect you struggle answering one question: is a technology upgrade needed for your company? ROI servicing your hardware, software and server demands is the only contributing to your final decision. However, there’s also another issue which is often overlooked called future-proofing your capacity.

IT Upgrade Tip #1

Meet with your managers at least twice a year to future-proof your technology needs for the next two years. Having worked with many companies, we understand the challenges CFOs experience weighing technology needs with financial conservatism.

Recently I sat with my CFO and IT department managers in our conference room. Our meeting was to analyze our own IT upgrade requirements and whether a capital investment would offer a strong ROI. We assess our future technology needs at least twice a year to future-proof our own resources. It’s a difficult subject as our finance officers always evaluate ROI as they should. However, our technicians and programmers focus on our company’s IT performance and more importantly, our clients. The concerns our IT team had were to improve our:

• Hardware aging (desktops and laptops).
• Outdated server components.
• Software and bandwidth speed.
• Off-site database back-up storage.
• Cyber security threat protection.

Learn what we recommend to our clients…

IT Upgrade Tip #2

Evaluate your data loss prevention. No company can survive losing up to 75% of their data.

A December 1, 2014 article featured on Entrepeneur.com by technology writer, Keith Tanaka, brings another mission-critical topic to light: data loss recovery planning.

Tanaka reports a recent research study of IT professionals. The findings revealed nearly 45% admitted their companies suffered data loss in the last year requiring up to $9000 in recovery fees.

Read more how to calculate your IT upgrade costs…

IT Upgrade Tip #3

Look at the research how companies have experienced outsourcing their IT. Thousands of companies like the idea outsourcing their IT. However, many CFOs worry about service quality.

The decision to migrate your IT upgrade needs to a third-party provider is a difficult one. About once per year, we survey our clients. Specifically we ask CFOs about their IT upgrade expenses since working with our company. They report the following:

• 98% reported no service quality issues.
• More than half cut IT upgrade expenses by 54%.
• 72% admitted their technology department expenses dropped by more than 35%.
• 86% of CFOs surveyed reported zero transitional problems moving their technology support to our team.

IT Upgrade Tip #4

Evaluate your in-house IT expertise. Many of our clients confess they had no genuine method how to review their IT department’s technical skills.

Most CFOs leave hiring to middle managers and human resources. But the problem is these people do not have the necessary background to pinpoint skill sets needed to oversee their technology needs.

IT Upgrade Tip #5

Smart CFOs invest time evaluating their IT issue avoidance history. We recommend you discover the answers to the following questions:

• Are problems solved or fixed? There’s a difference between fixing bugs and solving technical problems. The more often you rely on quick fixes the more you will pay in future IT overhaul expenses.
• Do your current systems get upgraded every month? The problem we see with many companies is their IT technicians are overworked fixing daily problems.
• What are your annual IT line-item expenses? Are they growing every year? If so, you’re probably overpaying for your IT upgrade needs.

What’s next? Contact us for a free review of your current IT upgrade needs.