What are the top 5 factors to consider when looking to upgrade or purchase new office equipment?

What are your existing or growing needs? If you have doubled your number of employees, you may want to look for uniformity and efficiency. For your computer network, determine if employees need to share certain files or simply need more server space. For example, the small photocopy machine you purchased many years may no longer be appropriate for your needs, particularly if it's being used by ten different people, or producing upwards of 500 copies per day. You should also consider the maintenance costs of such equipment, as these will often equal or exceed the cost of leasing new equipment.

When faced with a need for increased computer capacity, many companies choose to add supplementary hard disks to existing computers. In fact, if the computers are performing adequately, and the only problems are related to hard disk capacity, changing or increasing the latter is a much less costly alternative than purchasing new computer systems.