If you’re in the market to buy some computers or devices for your small business you’ll undoubtedly hear the advice (probably from a salesperson) to “future-proof.” This is a fancy term for buying a bit more than you need today in the hopes that you won’t have to run into performance bottlenecks in the future.
Is future-proofing worth the extra investment?
This is a good question and one we hear from time to time. When considering what’s right for your business, there are really two sides of the coin to consider. To understand both, let’s start with the case for future-proofing your tech setup.
It’s a Good Idea to Think Ahead to Future Needs
It’s never a bad idea to look ahead in any part of your business. After all, what you need today might not match the needs you’ll have tomorrow. Things can change – with regard to your company, the economy, or technology in general.
The last thing you want, if you’re considering a big investment in new computers or devices, is to make a purchase that won’t be sufficient for your needs over the short or medium term. In other words, you don’t want to have to find yourself buying more equipment later unless it’s absolutely necessary. So it’s better to go a bit beyond the bare minimum now.
Besides, a little extra power (in terms of computer RAM, hard drive space, chip strength, etc.) never hurts. It’s always nice to have equipment that runs quickly and does everything your team needs it to without any problems or delays.
But Don’t Look Too Far Onto the Horizon
Having made the case for a bit of light future-proofing, let’s look at the other side of the coin. We can start with the obvious caveat that buying more tech than you need today can deplete your budget and pull much-needed cash from other projects or departments. Why spend more than you need to on equipment that doesn’t fill an immediate requirement?
Even if the financial aspects of future-proofing aren’t a big deal for you it’s worth pointing out that you could easily end up miscalculating. In other words, you could buy more tech than you need and still end up with problems later if you overemphasize the wrong capabilities. For example, you could invest in larger hard drives today when what you’ll really need in a couple of years are stronger graphics cards. It’s a simple example, but hopefully, you get the point. It’s hard to look ahead more than a few months and figure out what you’ll actually wish you had invested in.
And finally, it’s worth remembering that tech prices generally decrease over time. So anything you overpay for today is likely to cost less in the future. So while it might make sense to buy a little bit more than you need in the short term, you certainly don’t want to overinvest too much based on incomplete information.
It’s easier to avoid these kinds of mistakes when you have a tech expert on your side. That brings us to the best piece of advice we can offer on the subject…
Get the Specific IT Advice You Need
At Fantastic IT we always want to give accurate and helpful advice through our weekly blog posts. However, it’s always better to get one-on-one guidance that focuses on your specific situation.
So, if you’re trying to sort out the right moves and investments for your business, consider reaching out to schedule a free consultation. You might end up learning that our virtual CIO services are exactly what you need to make the most of your tech budget going forward.