Keeping old hardware (was: Will Upgrading to V4R5 impact performance???)

>We were running our billion dollar business on
>436 without a single problem and just the version
>upgrade will make it obsolete box - I am sorry but
>there is something wrong with this picture.

Hi Basit!
  I used to work for a similar company - not a billion dollar outfit, but
big enough that we should have realised that computer hardware is fully
depreciated after 5 years.  That alone is usually a good enough reason to
upgrade the hardware.  We were pinched by the obsolescence of the System/3.
We actually purchased a complete S/3 for spare parts because IBM would have
charged exorbitant prices to maintain it.  We wanted to go to the S/38 but
were very shy because of the cost to purchase the box.  I have no idea the
money we saved by keeping that S/3 for the extra two years, but I can tell
you of one pleasant surprise when we upgraded to bigger hardware - out real
business (wholesale paper distribution) increased significantly.  It seems
that being able to place orders quicker freed up our customer service agents
to make more calls and generate more business.

As with everything, your business must decide when to upgrade hardware and
software, but you must remember that an upgrade WILL happen if your business
is growing.  It is simply a matter of balancing the cost savings by delaying
vs. the costs you will encounter by being forced to upgrade on the vendor's
schedule instead of your own.

Regards,
  buck