There comes a time in the life of every business when hard decisions have to be made. Sometimes they revolve around whether or not to expand the operation or to stand pat and enjoy the prosperity. Sometimes decisions have to do with personnel. Do we add staff members to handle a greater workload or do we hire people on a per diem basis? There's something to be said on both sides of these questions.

There are no easy solutions for many of these everyday dilemmas. For sure, 20-20 hindsight will tell if the right decision was made, but managers can't wait that long. When decisions must be made, managers have to rely on past experience and basic, tried-and-true business practices. Keeping a watchful eye on the bottom line is a primary guide, but being too strict can be counter-productive. This is especially true when it comes to decisions involving the expanding field of new technology.

Most businesses in Southwest Florida are already wired for the new millennium, some to a greater degree than others. The two most common reasons for companies facing decisions about their technology is repair - remember, this is the lightning capitol of the world - and upgrading their in-house system to increase capacity, expand the functions and, most important, to deal with the inevitable hand of obsolescence. The problem of repair is easier to solve and it sometimes leads directly to the matter of upgrading, which is where the fun begins.

A Case Study
Let's take a typical company through the process of deciding whether or not to upgrade its in-house computer system. It could be any kind of business - a retail store, a company that installs and repairs swimming pools, an accounting firm or a law office. For the sake of argument, let's assume our hypothetical company is a medium-sized insurance company with offices at several locations. Let's further assume that the office has about 50 terminals used by the majority of the firm's 60 employees, primarily for billing and maintaining client records.

The firm's main building is networked but is not yet connected to the other locations. Some of the hardware is nearly seven years old, but as the business has grown, so has the system, with newer elements about four years old. The software is a mix-and-match of various programs, most of it five years old, although some software is newer. As the firm has grown, they've tried to load old software into the newer hardware because it's been customized to meet their needs and they're afraid that if they move to a new system, the old software won't work. So far, so typical.

Then lightning strikes - literally. When a computer consultant is called in to replace a network interface card in the downed system, he realizes that the computer is so old that the newer card won't work. Given the scope of the problem, and a few other glitches he has noticed on earlier service calls, he suggests that they upgrade the hardware to keep pace with newer applications. He braces himself for the inevitable response: "What do you mean upgrade? The system is almost new. Some of it is only 4 years old!"

What comes to mind is the exchange between Bill Gates and General Motors in which the Microsoft chief compared the explosive development of computers to automobiles. Gates said that if automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades, we'd be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, with a top speed of 10,000 miles per hour. We might have economy cars that weigh 30 pounds, get a thousand miles per gallon, with a sticker price of less than $50.

Putting aside General Motors' snappy response -- "But would we want to drive a car that crashes four times a day?" -- Gates was correct. Computer technology is progressing so fast that companies like the hypothetical insurance company must face hard reality. If they want to stay competitive, they must prepare themselves for the financial and emotional commitment that accompanies rapid change. The life cycle of business-level computers is about two years and no amount of hand wringing will alter that fact. Computer technology is undeniably complex and can be expensive, but in an information-based world, keeping pace with technology may be the most-cost-saving decision a company can make. Next time, I'll offer a few suggestions to help make the decision a little easier.

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