With technology moving so quickly, how possible is it to future proof yourself?

Posted by Karen on Jul 1, 2011 12:00:00 AM

I remember when a 2Mb/s ADSL connection was called future proofing, but you need to remember a lot of businesses at that time were still using 64Kb/s ISDN lines. In the technical world there are so many aspects that change constantly and put more pressure on IT Directors and Managers. From the speed of a computer (Moore’s Law), to internet bandwidth and even protocols (IPv6) - change is the only constant. So what do we advise our customers? Well in part it depends on the size and the need of the company, but one thing that we do preach consistently, across big and small, is keep your contracts flexible. For a smaller SME company we would suggest something as simple as a short (3-month) contract for our ADSL products. For larger PWAN and CORE customers we would advise taking a year contract - although it means that we can’t spread the capex cost quite as long , it allows the IT Directors and Managers who work with us keep flexible and upgrade or downgrade their solutions. Large companies also have the added problem of cost against flexibility, do they go for the (on the face of it) cheaper-per-year 3 or 5 year deals or the flexible shorter contracts? Our experience suggests the later always pays off when it comes to renegotiating in years 2 and 3- as a rule technology normally goes down not up in price. There also has the added advantage that both the account manager, and our service, has to be excellent - first time and every time.

Topics: News