Examiner.com

Trying to keep up to date with the most recent software and hardware developments is a hard thing to do. Technology is consistently changing on a daily basis. So what is a individual or Business suppose to do when say a new product comes up? Do you spend the money and update to the new software, or hardware, or use what still functions for you? This is a question that a lot of IT personnel will ask CTO's of companies. Most companies tend to have a rolling upgrade schedule for hardware and software. What that means is that a certain percentage of current equipment is upgraded say every 2 to 5 years usually.

Here is the thing though, do you really need to upgrade that often if the hardware or software is meeting your needs? If you are looking to upgrade, but have only so much money where do go. Hardware, software. The thing is most individuals and companies will spend money on software simply because of the name attached to it. If ,for example, you are running Microsoft Office 2003 certain question you have to ask yourself. Do I really need to upgrade to the new 2007 or 2010 version? What features of this do I use that I need to specifically use this? Is there a learning curve with the upgrade software?

These are the kind of questions that need to be asked. If you end up finding what amount of function you get out of software you will more than likely find the choice that more fits your needs? Why pay for licensing MS Office when there are companies office suite available for free. Some alternatives would be IBM Lotus Symphony or OpenOffice.org, which Oracle provides support for.

So in the end the best way to save money is truly look at all your options. Asking the right kind of questions. Not being afraid to see what others might suggest.