How to Upgrade New Server Plan

The benefits of upgrading your company’s server this year are many. But most importantly, it enhances your ability to grow your business and better serve your customers.

The average business leader commonly plans for growth in the coming year, yet they rarely know how to plan for the added overhead costs and logistics that accompany such growth. It’s easy to simply add a helpful new employee, but it’s much more difficult adhering to increasing standards for your technical infrastructure amongst the chaos of continuous industry change and opportunity. Understanding how to plan for a server upgrade and why it’s key to your business success will greatly simplify your perspective on what needs to happen in 2016.

For example, if you double your sales in 2016, the last thing you want is to take down your business’s network while adding a new server (or fix one that is broken or compromised). Instead, plan a server upgrade with expert IT consultants that will help match your anticipated growth to needed technology changes. You will avoid detrimental downtime and actually enhance your company’s ability to meet your goals for 2016 and beyond.

The Benefits of Upgrading Your Business Server

What exactly does your company server do? If your business is like most, your server gives you the capacity needed to run most aspects of your day-to-day operations. A failed server can bring the entire business to a standstill until the issue is fixed. Servers run constantly, even after your office is closed, making wear and tear a real issue with dated servers. When you add dust, hair, and grime into the equation—which occurs naturally over time—your business could experience problems.

Upgrading your server not only avoids unexpected downtime and technical issues, it can actually enhance the overall growth of your business. A new server provides multiple benefits to your bottom line:

• Speed. Your employees will be empowered to reach new heights when it comes to productivity by having enhanced speed at their fingertips. Even if the company server is the only upgrade, all services and apps that run on that server will speed up. A faster technical infrastructure means your employees can be more productive, which spells success for any business.
• Reliability. Your customers or clients expect you to be reliable and accountable. Yet, your organization can only be as reliable as its technology. Upgrading your infrastructure ensures that required services will be online when you, your employees, or your customers need them.
• Warranty. When you upgrade your server, you’ll be under a new warranty, as all new servers will include a manufacturer’s warranty. One of the key business benefits of having equipment protected under a warranty is knowing that your investment is secure and supported. You know that your business won’t have to spend more money on the server once it is purchased and installed correctly.

Each of these benefits enhances the ability of your entire business to operate effectively and profitably. Plus, you write off the new server as a business expense under Section 179 of the federal tax code. Clearly, planning for a server upgrade is a great investment in your company’s future.

How to Plan for a Server Upgrade Project

Planning a server upgrade varies depending on your technical needs. For this reason, everyone will have a different roadmap for upgrading to a new server and migrating necessary roles over to it. You may need to work with a local IT consulting company in order to create a comprehensive project strategy. However, you should consider a few key aspects during the initial planning phases:

• Plan long term. Look five years into the future and estimate what your technical needs will be. Then, purchase a server that will satisfy those needs. Avoid the common trap of buying a new server based on your current needs just to save money. Short term fixes do not accommodate long-term goals.
• Design a migration strategy. Once the hardware has been selected, how will it be installed? All of the roles handled by the present server must be considered when developing a migration strategy, along with any possible complications with new hardware or operating systems.
• Time it right. One of the most important goals behind upgrading your business server is to avoid future interruptions. However, through the course of this upgrade, you’ll still have an interruption but it can be accounted for. Have your team ready to handle the installation and migration at a time when it will not significantly impact your business.

Work with the Right Company

Your IT team may be able to handle the server migration on their own. However, you may benefit from the IT consulting services of another company to help plan and execute the upgrade. To learn more about how to plan for a server upgrade in Little Rock, contact Scale today at 501-588-3199.