Tech 101
It's time to upgrade hardware when...
By Roberta Gelb
* you spend more time try to find available disk space on your servers than spend doing actual work.
* the vendor will no longer offer a maintenance contract on the hardware.
* the maintenance contract renewal costs more than you paid for the product.
* it takes longer to open an application than to actually do the work.
It's time to upgrade software when...
* you're using a DOS program.
* new hires have no idea how to use it.
* the person who wrote your templates and/or macro has retired.
* your children refuse to use your office computer or laptop because it is a "dog."
* your new PDA runs circles around your desktop.
* tech support has no experience with the version you are running.
* the user group for your software disbands.
* you can't open attachments you receive via e-mail and no one can read the ones you send.
It's time to upgrade your laptop when...
* the person next to you on the plane snickers when you pull out your laptop.
* you find you're not strong enough to take your laptop with you.
* you need to see a chiropractor after every trip with your laptop.
It's time to upgrade the whole system when...
* system downtime starts attracting attention of the management committee.
Roberta Gelb is training manager at Kraft, Kennedy and Lesser. Assistance: R. Stone, M. Georgopoulos, M. Evans, C. Ottenweller.
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