- by Morris Bocian
Not too long ago, companies used to budget hardware and software upgrades once a year, or every other year. With rapid technology changes and little hope of the trend abating, if small business owners want to keep up, they might feel that they are in constant training mode. And they are right, especially if the business is in the technology arena. The owners may dedicate resources, maybe to become a leader in the field, only to have the next generation of product launch that may enable the competition to deliver better results, cheaper and faster. What is a business owner to do?
The solution might depend on the type of business the company size, how driven the industry is on technology, as well as costs to upgrade (including the cost of the equipment, software and learning curve) vs. the costs of not upgrading (such as opportunity costs, loss of clients etc.).
For example, if you are a photographer, can you be competitive if your pictures are shot on a five megapixel (MP) camera when 20 MP is becoming standard? What if your investments in camera lenses are now worthless due to incompatibility with new technology? Does your existing investment become a major part of your decision? If you decide to upgrade, do all of your pictures need to be taken on the 20 MP camera, or can you still use your existing technology?
My contention is you don’t necessarily have to upgrade, it depends on your target market. For example, it is my understanding that the Joe Holmes’ 13 X 19” limited edition prints of his “American Museum of Natural History’s series” was shot on a 6 MP camera. The pictures are high quality and prints sell for $650 each.
On the other hand, if your company adds special effects (or animation) to videos, you might be able to deliver more spectacular special effects with the latest technologies and fastest computers. In the first example, photography, your customer may not be able to differentiate a better product if the customer never intends to enlarge their photographs beyond an 8 X 10. However, in the second example, if you are supplying graphically intensive special effects – or animation, using a three year old computer; can it be done? If it can, how much longer will it take? Can the purchase of new equipment be economically justified? Will the software require an upgrade or a new, faster computer?
As a videographer, if your typical customer is a bride and groom, the special effects might not have to be spectacular and probably does not require state of the art computing power. If your customer is someone producing a television show, or feature movie, the expectations and specifications are different. In all likelihood, the production company is outsourcing because they do not have the capability, expertise, software and equipment to deliver the product they want. Or alternatively, they can not justify it within the timeframes they need it.
Upgrades, be it computers or software should increase operating efficiencies, reduce costs, create new opportunities or be a way of keeping clients. This is true whether you are in a high tech or low tech industry.
Most of the time the decision to upgrade is not black or white, it is gray, especially if it takes more than two years to recoup your investment in the upgrades.
An often missed component of the decision is environmental, and that applies to companies that claim to be “green.” Business owners who care about the environment might want to spend more time evaluating alternative solutions before creating electronic waste.
Why is there so much e-waste? According to Moore’s Law, processing speed should double every 18-24 months. The electronics industry has viewed Moore’s Law as an opportunity to sell, sell and sell. And sell they do. We produce 25 million tons of electronic waste a year, most of which gets dumped, burned or partially salvaged, removing small components such as metals or other items of value.
Electronics we purchase today are hard to upgrade, easy to break and impractical to repair. Electronic manufacturers design obsolescence into the product. Also, electronics have a tremendous amount of toxic components, including lead, PVCs, mercury, solvents, flame retardants. Some products release carcinogenic materials into the air we breathe as we take the equipment out of the box and use the device. We are creating a global toxic emergency, since much of our e-waste gets exported, where some of the waste is recycled and much is burned, releasing toxins into the air.
We as customers and business owners often replace our equipment for the wrong reasons, just to have the fastest and best. The problem is the life of the product is short compared to the environmental damage we are potentially creating, including the scarcity of minerals needed to produce the electronics in the future. After all, most of the materials that go into electronics devices are either mined or drilled. What happens when these mines and wells are depleted?
About DiversityPlus Magazine:DiversityPlus is much more than “just” a supplier diversity magazine.Thanks to its strong media platform, which includes the print edition, digital magazine, website, weekly newsletter, social media, blogs, and video, DiversityPlus is able to provide print readers in seven countries and more than 117,000 digital readers worldwide with access to leading-edge supplier diversity content, webinars, and events.
What you’ll read in the pages of DiversityPlus represents the most current and impactful thinking about diverse supplier relationships. Plus, with over 17 years in print, our trend research, interviews, and feature articles showcase a depth of industry relationships unmatched by any other supplier diversity publication.