Are You Paying Too Much for the Tech That Runs Your Business?

Technology is all around us. It’s mandatory to run our businesses, it’s crucial to keep our customers in the loop, and we need it to market our businesses. As a result, we typically get charged exorbitant amounts of money for tech services because we simply don’t understand them well enough to make a judgement. A new computer for $500? Sounds like a bargain when you consider that retail computers sell for around the same amount, but is that a great deal or is it ripping you off?

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Buy what boosts productivity, nothing else

There are times when someone, be it an employee or an IT professional, will try and convince you to buy something for the sake of productivity. However, when you take a look at it, the item might be something that looks like it won’t actually help. For instance, perhaps someone on your design team suggests an industry-grade Wacom Cintiq tablet and a 5K monitor display. Sure, these are industry standard tools for anyone who is in the business, but if you’re a small startup with a single designer who is already working on an expensive computer, then you have no need to pay over $5000 in hardware just to improve their workflow.

Assuming they are already productive enough and they are doing their job to your standards, you don’t need to invest in extremely expensive hardware especially when they are cheaper alternatives on the market. A Cintiq 27QHD is seen as the gold standard in pen display technology, but it alone will cost roughly $2800. Compare that to a $800 alternative that offers similar results, and you’ll wonder why you would ever buy expensive hardware if the cheaper makes get the job done just as well.

Take an interest in computer hardware

If you have no idea about computer hardware, then you’ll have no idea if what you are paying for is worth the money or not. This guide to small business computers is the perfect starting point to learn about computers, their costs and what you should expect in a business-grade office computer.

Hard drive space can technically be reduced or omitted because with the advent of cloud-based storage, you don’t need to actually have much hard drive space at all. Your workflow can be entirely based on the cloud, meaning you and your employees can work on documents no matter where you are as long as you have access to a smart device such as a tablet, or a laptop that can connect to the internet.

Recycle unwanted computer items

If you’ve been constantly upgrading your computers due to recommendations from employees or tech professionals, then you’ve probably built up a healthy stash of extra components and old hardware that you might think are useful. For instance, you might think that if something was to break, you could replace a part with something older from your pile of unused hardware, or you might think that you can build a perfectly working computer from old spares.

While this is partially true, it’s also a waste of money. As old hardware continues to grow older, the value gets lower and the resale value decreases. If you want to recycle old computer hardware, then you should sell it as soon as it no longer has a use. Hardware constantly updates, so there’s no chance that old hardware will be compatible with your newer computers if you upgrade something like the CPU, RAM or motherboard.

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