TMC's Advisor

The Advisor is published by TMC

Optimising Your Tech Refresh Schedule

How do you balance getting value out of a major investment with missing out on improvements offered by newer technology? Many years ago, telecom and computer technology was expected to last 10 to 20 years and that mentality has carried forward to some extent. We regularly encounter clients with servers that are much too old and networks that are architected for long ago. Here’s our approach on optimising your refresh cycle.

By Peter Aggus

Peter, as an engineer & technology management consultant, has developed innovative & cost-effective solutions for clients in many industries.

Obsolete Too Soon

Technology continues to change at an ever-increasing pace. What is state-of-the-art today becomes obsolete, often before giving full value for the investment.

This makes cost justification difficult to do when a device was bought two years ago and was expected to have a five year life. In your defence, if you don't upgrade now then you risk “missing out” on features that could be adding business value.

Budgets

The central pillar of current organizations is a balanced budget and predictable income. IT, for example, must budget for their expected capital and running cost over several years—as must user departments.

The problem is that new technology business disruptors are frequently not seen in time to be built into planning and budget cycles. As a result, user departments either “do without” or “cause budget problems”.

The Crystal Ball

If only we could predict the future… Well perhaps we can. Technology developments do not suddenly appear. They are there years in advance—but you need to look. Developments—like the upcoming 5G cellular-are known to tech experts already. Yet end users, who will have the need that will justify them, are often not in that knowledge loop.

Education

Companies should encourage their tech experts to educate senior executives and other departments on ‘what is coming’, how it might be used in business and how others are beginning to use it.

We have promoted this education for over 20 years through our magazine, through conference presentations, executive briefings and “lunch and learn” sessions for staff.

Educating senior management, planners, and even front line staff to see upcoming opportunities for change well in advance, makes two things possible.

First, it becomes possible to anticipate future needs and to budget accordingly.

Second, it can trigger a knowledge-based “what if” dialogue. Business process transformation works best when everyone knows technology basics and is encouraged to answer the question “how might we change how we work if…” This can lead to optimizing the business planning process.

Advance Planning

As an example, does your Executive know what 5G might do for the company? Are they deciding who needs it, why and when? Or will it arrive as a surprise when you have dozens of locked in contracts and heavy break-out penalties?

This article was published in the February 2020 edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:7 Issue:1

©2020 TMC Consulting