Why IT upgrades matter

During my radio show a few weeks a lady asked me about using an antivirus on a Windows 98 system.

My first response was to say get rid of the thing and buy something new, as the box is at least 10 years old, which is about 100 in computer years.

Her response was while the computer is 12 years old it does exactly what she needs.

This is a pretty typical attitude from most computer users and it’s fair enough – if something’s working why replace it?

It’s difficult to argue with that point of view, even in a business environment I know of organisations still using Windows NT and 2000 because upgrading to Vista or XP involves a huge upgrade in systems, software and training.

In fact, I have on old machine in my office for a couple of legacy programs that aren’t worth replacing.

So like many things in business and IT, replacing those older systems is a judgement call where you have to weigh up the costs of upgrading against the benefits of the new equipment.

The biggest reason for businesses upgrading is being dragged into it by their software vendor. Usually their supplier tells them their ancient system is beyond help and they won’t support it any more.

This news is usually followed by the company’s IT people informing management the new software is beyond the capabilities of the existing workstations.

And so the circle begins.

But usually the cost is worth it, particularly if you are running Windows 98 systems which are a security and reliability nightmare, not to mention most new hardware and software won’t run on them.

So don’t blindly hold on to older systems unless there’s a very good reason. At the very least you owe your staff their sanity.

By the way, if you insist on using Windows 98 make sure you have an anti-virus on them, as they are a magnet for spyware and viruses. I find Avast! still works on the older systems.

Paul Wallbank is a speaker, writer and broadcaster on technology and business. He grew PC Rescue into a national IT company and set up the IT Queries website. Paul has a regular ABC spot on technology matters.

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