Some people assume that successful businesses upgrade their IT equipment on a regular basis. Sadly, that’s not always the case even for large multinational firms. It’s not unheard of for those businesses to even have decades-old PCs, believe it or not!

For many companies, the primary challenge of upgrading their computers is cost. Let’s say that a business employs 100 people. A new PC for each user could cost around £300 for a basic system. Therefore, it makes sense to them to just keep using the same older systems until they literally stop working!

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If you follow the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought, you might think that buying new PCs is unnecessary for your business. The ugly truth is that your view on such expenditure could be damaging your brand. Here’s why:

Your PCs are more likely to get affected by malware

Aside from disrupting productivity, malware can also be tough (and costly) to remove from a PC. If you have an older computer, it’s likely that it will be rocking an older and vulnerable operating system. And if you spend little to nothing on your IT, your PCs might not even have Internet security software installed on them!

Upgrading to newer and more modern machines can help block out malware infections. The latest Windows operating systems have better malware protection built into them. That’s a far cry from Windows XP, for example, which offered little to no defence against such infections!

Upgrade parts could be hard to find for older PCs

The technology used in a computer changes all the time. As time goes on, you’ll conclude that it could be more difficult and more costly to upgrade the RAM or hard drive in your systems. On the other hand, if you had a newer PC, upgrades will be easier to obtain and cheaper to buy.

There’s also the maintenance cost to consider. Many firms use companies like InfoTech Solutions, for example, to maintain and oversee their IT systems. It’s a well-known fact that newer and modern PCs are cost-effective to maintain.

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Older PCs are easier to hack into

Microsoft Windows 10 is an operating system that offers a secure and powerful way to be productive in the workplace. Compare it to older OS versions, and you’ll discover one thing: those older versions are more vulnerable to hacking attempts.

Because older operating systems only have a limited production lifecycle, there is less likelihood of exploits in the software getting fixed as time goes on. However, if you have a modern system with the latest OS, you’ve already got a more secure working environment out of the box.

You might think that just upgrading to newer operating systems will solve the problem. The thing is, if your old PCs are too slow already, they won’t get better with a new operating system.

Your staff can use the same software your clients use

Let’s say that you run a graphic design agency such as Toast Design. You will no doubt deal with digital files in a variety of formats such as AI and PDF. If your design company is rocking old PCs, they might be unable to run newer versions of Adobe Illustrator, for example. So, if a client sends you an AI file, you’ll end up looking a little red-faced!

Have you checked whether your PCs are up to scratch? If not, go and do it now; the results might shock you!