“I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of progress.” - Mark Zuckerberg

Business Tech Buying Guide

One thing often overlooked by business, especially when budgeting, is the lifecycle of its technology assets.

As February 29th rolls in on its once-every-four-years journey, we look at why it's crucial for your business security, resilience, and productivity to be using modern, protected devices, along with providing you some buying tips and advice along the way.

Technology Lifecycle you say?

Out with the old

Old PCs and Laptops not only cause frustration to your staff, taking them many times longer to complete the same tasks, they cost your business money. Just think of the productivity boost into your business if your staff could complete double the amount of work because their equipment worked faster.

Not only this, but older equipment is more likely to be out of warranty, and worse, unsupported, meaning they may no longer receive the critical security updates your business needs to stay protected.

With Windows 10 fast approaching it's end of life (EOL) on 14th October 2025, many businesses face the challenge of replacing a considerable amount of outdated hardware to ensure they stay on a supported and protected version of Windows (Windows 11).

Assigning budget and planning for this requirement is key and a major step towards keeping your business secured from Cyber Crime. This cycle of replacing hardware should be executed every 3 to 5 years.

Although we aren't going in to detail on Server or NAS equipment on this post, these should also be included in your renewal cycle (hint: they will be more likely to be on the 5 year schedule than every 3 years).

Choosing the right fit

Before you can work out your budget you first need to know a few numbers, like how many devices you need to replace in the year to come and of course the cost of those devices. We always recommend taking an extended warranty on business devices to cover the renewal lifecycle you wish to adhere to. This way you won't have to fork out for replacement equipment if it unexpectedly fails during the middle of your planned technology lifecycle.

For standard business use (MS Office 365, web browsing, video calls etc) we recommend a minimum spec of the latest Intel i5, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. Please note that this is a minimum, and for longer lifecycles (5 year) we are recommending Intel i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD devices. These are guidelines and your business may have additional requirements, especially if you are working with graphical or CAD applications. It is always advised to check the requirements for your business applications before deciding on your new equipment to make sure you have everything covered. In addition to this please always ensure you are getting the Professional edition of Windows, not the Home edition. New Macs should always ship with the latest Mac OS, so that shouldn't be an issue.

In with the new

Now you have your devices and budget figured out, it's time to start ordering in your new equipment. Depending on your business size and if you remote work, shipping new devices straight to your staff may be the best option.

The Professional edition of Windows plus the right Microsoft licencing will allow your IT department to remotely enrol the new device into your business and set up everything your staff needs remotely. This is especially handy for large rollouts and can be done with smaller IT teams.

Be sure to update your new devices straight away (they will very likely have updates to apply). This is because your new device may have been sitting all wrapped up in a box for a couple of months before you purchased it and since then critical updates have been released that it needs to stay secure.

What do we do with the old equipment?

When you are all set up and happily using your new devices it's time to consider disposing of your old ones. You'll want to find a disposal company who will provide you certificates of data destruction and ideally one with a Green footprint.

Bitwise-IT recommends the UK Charity Computers 4 Charity, who tick all the requirements and will put your old devices to a great cause. Not only will you get a certificate of data destruction for your devices, you'll be left a warm fuzzy feeling inside and the knowledge you helped the community and those in need.

Need some help in managing your business technology?

Bitwise-IT are experts in supporting and managing technology in businesses just like yours. Reach out to us to see how we can help.