You may be continuing to use outdated IT equipment in the mistaken belief that this is saving your business money, but this is not necessarily the case. By replacing and recycling your old hardware at sensible intervals you could actually save more money than by hanging on to it.
Recycling and Replacing for Increased productivity and efficiency
It stands to reason that old technology is not going to perform as well as new. This means that using outdated IT equipment can have a serious impact on your productivity and efficiency. Time wasted on slow computers or sorting out problems with printers and copiers that aren’t functioning as well as they used to is time that could be spent on more useful activities, ones that make your business more money.
Newer technology also tends to automate more activities than old. A simple example from the past is the way printers and copiers can now collate and even staple sections together which in the old days would have been unimaginable.
Upgrading to newer equipment will improve processing speeds and reduce the time spent solving technology issues and the more employees you have the more these accumulated time savings will mount up.
New IT Equipment Improves morale
Few things will frustrate your employees more than having to work twice as hard as they should have to in order to get things done, or having to redo work because a piece of equipment didn’t work properly the first time. If your staff have IT equipment at home that is better than at work then that’s going to be particularly demoralising for them.
Replacing outdated equipment with new can boost morale, showing your employees that you care enough about them to make their lives easier, as well as setting an example in terms of making the business as efficient as it can be.
Better data security
Outdated IT equipment may only work with older software, which will be more vulnerable to hacking and less likely to be adequately supported to keep up with the latest advances in security. We’ve all seen the stories in the news about data getting into the wrong hands and what a devastating impact that can have on a business, and with the new GDPR regulations coming into force it is even more important that you take your responsibility seriously to ensure that any personal data you have on file is adequately protected.
Older equipment is also more prone to failure, and no one wants to have to deal with a hard drive failure or loss of data that could have been avoided by keeping technology up to date.
Recycle your IT when you replace
We are by no means advocating replacing IT equipment simply for the sake of it, but in many cases it makes good business sense to keep your technology up to date. It is however important that you responsibly recycle the old equipment that you are getting rid of. Find out how we can help you to recycle your office equipment for the least possible impact on the environment.