A technology tale by Mike Oster, IT Radix Senior IT Consultant…
Have you ever played chess?
If you’re anything like me, you may play a little and even have some limited success. But every once in a while you have that one match where
you wait too long to move your king. Then, before you know it, you’re cornered and then…Checkmate!
I know, you’re wondering what the heck this has to do with technology. Well sit down and let me tell you a little story.
A small business purchases a nice, new server—15 or 20 workstations, printers…the works. The business owner springs for a shiny new Line of
Business (LOB) application. Life is great! It’s the perfect little network. The applications and computers do everything the business needs. But,
as new versions of their perfect application are released, they pass. After all, the version they use does everything they need. All the PC’s
work great and nothing is broken. Then one day the unthinkable happens… A mere 6 years after purchasing all of their shiny new computers, one of them fails! It is
not repairable and must be replaced. So the business owner does what any business owner would do. He fires up his still working computer, opens up Internet
Explorer (Version 6!), and heads on over to www.newcomputersforsale.com.
Well, nothing is working—he can’t navigate the site, nothing looks right, and he can’t order a replacement computer. That’s OK, he can see the phone number on
the website, so he calls the sales team and orders a new PC. When the computer arrives, it’s taken out of the box and set up. Great, time to install that
great LOB and get to work. Oh no! Errors! That’s OK, we have a great support plan for our LOB. So, the business owner calls the support team at
Perfect Application Co. LLC and the conversation goes something like this:
Plan Ahead—
Get the XP Out by April 2014!
Support: Hello, this is Tech Support.
Business Owner: Hi, I need some help installing Perfect Application Version 2.6 on Windows 8.
Support: <Long silence, then a slightly muffled> Hey guys, I have someone on the phone that wants to install V2.6 on Windows 8.
<Uncontrollable laughter ensues>
Business Owner: But...But...I have support.
Support: Of course sir, that’s no problem. Since you have a maintenance plan, you are entitled to a free upgrade to Version 4.5 which is
fully supported on Windows 8.
Business Owner: Perfect, will you also assist upgrading the application on my Windows 98 computers?
Support: <The sound of someone shooting Mountain Dew through their nose> I’m sorry sir, but Perfect Application V4.5 requires a minimum
of Windows 7.
Do you see where this is going? The application also won’t run on the old server. The parallel printers won’t connect to new PC’s. There are no 64-bit drivers for the scanner. etc., etc., etc…
Our business owner only wanted to replace one little thing, in this case a failed workstation, and this terrible snowball effect ensued. Someone waited
too long to upgrade their technology and…Checkmate…Game over!
Don’t let this happen to you. The best way to prevent technology “Checkmate” is to have a technology plan. Stay current. Take advantage of version
upgrades from your application vendors. Replace and upgrade hardware on a regular basis. Take advantage of trade-in and upgrade offers from hardware vendors. I
suggest budgeting to replace 20%-25% of your technology investment annually. Yes...even if things that still working! Trust me, this will save a lot of headaches in
the future.
If you need help with your technology plan, give IT Radix a call, and we will be happy to help.
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