Tip of the Week: Considerations to Help You Plan Your Hardware Investments

Other than matters of scale, most businesses have very similar needs when it comes to their hardware. As a result, many of the considerations businesses need to make are the same, regardless of their size. This week, we’re sharing some of these considerations to help you more effectively plan for any upcoming hardware implementations.

Necessary Hardware Capabilities

The hardware you should invest in will primarily be dictated by the proposed design of your IT infrastructure. Do you plan to maintain an on-site server, or will you rely on cloud services for your software and document storage? Will you endorse a Bring-Your-Own-Device policy, or will you supply the hardware your team needs?

To answer these questions (and the many more that are associated with them) you will need to know what the intended use of the hardware is to be, and what that will require. This process isn’t too challenging, but Zinc is here to help, if need be.

Features

Considering what it is that you plan to do with your hardware solutions, what tasks would top the list if arranged by priority? Will your team have the need to print documents from a mobile device? Will your operations require multiple point-of-sale systems? What is the anticipated load that you’ll need your infrastructure to support? Knowing this kind of information ahead of time can help you eliminate any options that would be insufficient for your needs.

Storage

Businesses need data to succeed, and there’s a lot of data gathered and generated during each day’s operations. You need to plan for storing it, backing it up, and how you’re going to ensure your business’ continuity as you design your infrastructure. This will directly impact the hardware you’ll need.

Performance

On a related note, what are the processes that this hardware will need to enable so that your daily operations can be completed? Email and video editing are two very different things and will require considerably different hardware capabilities. Referring to an IT provider’s expertise will help you to be sure that your chosen hardware has the requisite processing power for your needs.

Budget

Of course, you don’t want to overextend your budget on your hardware investments, although this can be very easy to do. Whether you’re in the market for a new server, workstation, or what have you, you need to know precisely what your requirements are. This will allow you to more accurately evaluate the value a vendor is offering, and thereby allow you to get more for your money.

Mobility

Remote operations are currently seeing unprecedented popularity, so it makes sense to take note of this now and invest in hardware that enables mobile work processes if they are ever needed. Whether you decide to go with cloud solutions or invest a little more in a laptop over a desktop workstation, the mobility will most likely prove to be worth your while.

Security

Security is crucial to consider for a variety of reasons, including any potential need for business continuity or data loss prevention. Think about the technology that currently resides in your office… what does it all need to operate? The word “currently” was a hint.

That’s right, electricity. A sudden loss of power can lead to both data loss and hardware damage, neither of which being desirable outcomes. Implementing an uninterruptible power supply device (also known as a UPS) can help protect you from these outcomes.

When it comes to security, you should also consider some old-fashioned threats and risks. There are plenty of hardware solutions that can improve your physical security as well.

Hardware-to-Infrastructure Balance

Last but not least, you need to be sure that your infrastructure is sufficient to support all the solutions and resources that your business will need to operate. Ensuring that this is the case will help to maintain business continuity and give your team the opportunity to work more productively.

For assistance with any of your IT needs or concerns, from hardware to software, you can rely on the team at Zinc. Find out more about our managed IT services and how they can benefit you by calling (713) 979-2090 today.