I would like your opinion

[DavidConway]

In my company there is a 2014 IBM hardware that costs, with hardware assistance and without software assistance, 700 $ per month;
There is the possibility to replace it with a new, similar one at a price of 1000 $ per month with software and hardware support included for the first 36 months
The current manager has decided to keep the current configuration at 700 $

I would like to receive your opinions ...
Do you think it's worth it for saving of $ 3600 a year (consider that the company is an IT company and the hardware is development hardware)

Thanks for your opinion...
David

[Ghost +]

I think it is a bit hard to tell with an outsider's perspective what the best approach is for the particular company, but without specific details, I would personally be inclined to lean toward the current manager's opinion as they are (hopefully) most familiar with their budget and the needs of the company. If there isn't much of a need to have software assistance, then throwing away $300 per month wouldn't make sense when you could put that towards other uses.

[EmmanuelW1]

I'd like to offer an opinion completely at odds with Ghost's.

I think it's a false economy especially for an IT outfit. So you're running ancient hardware that doesn't support the latest versions of the OS, which means that you can't take advantage of the many improvements that have been made, not just to the OS, but to the languages it supports.

Then there's the possibility of not being able to connect to partners due to being unable to support the latest ciphers.

Oh, and things do sometimes go wrong - if they do, it's nice to be able to call Big Blue and get assistance in resolving the issue.

Cheers,

Emmanuel

[Viking]

Given the choice between staying on old unsupported system or go to the newest hardware and OS with IBM support for $300 more per month, I would do the upgrade. One issue and service call can eat up that whole difference real quick.

[jtaylor___]

Did I miss where he said they're on an unsupported OS? Is that an assumption based on "without software assistance"?

[Brian Rusch]

In my mind, this is similar to buying an insurance policy in that if you can afford the loss, then you don't necessarily need the policy, if you can't, then you do. Applying that logic to this situation, the question that needs to be answered is how long can you afford to be down (in terms of time and money) if there is a problem with your machine. If the machine goes down (because of a hardware or software problem) but you can tolerate the time and money required to fix it (which may be substantial), then stay where you are. On the other hand, if downtime will cost more than you are willing to pay, then the upgrade should probably be done. It's about assessing the risk of keeping the current machine vs. upgrading, which factors in more than just the monthly payment.

[Ghost +]

Well said Brian Rusch !