OK, things are tight. But does that mean your IT department should put off upgrades and just putter along?

In some cases, you’ll want them to squeeze all the life out of resources until the financial forecast improves. But in some cases you’ll have to bite the bullet and spend some money.

The trick is to know when it’s best to upgrade, make do, or do without.
Here’s how:

• If it involves security – upgrade. For example, newer routers include better firewalls and virus and spyware protection. So don’t replace a dead router with the same old model. It’s worth the cost to upgrade, particularly if it’ll provide wireless access.
• If your company needs new desktops, go for laptops instead. Laptops have gone down in price, offer features comparable to desktops, and use about a third of the energy. But, if it’s for a road warrior and doesn’t support full disk encryption, don’t buy it.
• If the company’s Microsoft Exchange mail server needs to be upgraded or replaced, switch to an e-mail hosting service instead. These services offer all the same features, including add-on Microsoft services like shared calendars and SharePoint, for a fraction of the cost and none of the maintenance hassles.
• If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. If it’s really having a negative impact on employees’ ability to work, they’ll let you know. Otherwise, it can wait.