Trying to convice your boss to buy new equipment

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killerasp

Gawd
Joined
Jul 17, 2001
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963
Not sure where i should put this thread but since there are so many IT pros here, i figure this would be the best place.

"I" think we need to purchase a UPS system for our servers. Just today we had a power failure in the building and the servers went off. Thank god nothing was lost...BUT WHAT IF!!

For those in the IT industry, How do you convince your superiors to spend money on what you think is necessary to maintain the upkeep of the network and business.
 
Personally, I've always either had a boss who understood and got me what I wanted, or I got a new job and a new boss. If your boss doesn't inherently see the value of a UPS, you probably need a new boss. However, you can likely find plenty of information from the UPS manufacturers' web sites on the cost of equipment repair, downtime, component replacement, etc. vs. the cost of a quality UPS. Use that information to make your argument. Most bosses understand financial incentives quite well - put the argument to them in those terms.

RagManX
 
Ask him how valuable his information is. If someone were to come in and kidnap his data...how much would he be willing to pay in ransom to get his money back?

No APC units on a server/switches! Yeouch! He likes walking on thin ice eh?
 
I agree with the post above( well two posts above)

I had a boss the same way. We eventually picked up two used ups's that gave us EIGHT minutes of UPS time :rolleyes: it was enough for the quick flashes we get but still not enough to support a CALL CENTER.

if they aren't understanding that oyu need a UPS it seriously might be a time to think about getting a new job. If they don't see the value of a UPS and don't value your opinion as the IT proffesional that is a direct reflection of their managerial priorities.

B
 
just tell him in a professional manner that in order to achive an acceptable level of data security and to minimize downtime a ups is vital. The fortresses we had on our servers here bit the dust one day and we didn't have any on ups untill we got our new ups for our AS/400's and then we could move the old 400 one to the network servers. so yeah they are important for that reason. If he doesn't see that, then when there is a data loss due to a hard crash then he might rethink it
 
actually...my boss is a "female"...a MILF to be exact.

thanks guys. ill try to "convice" her some more.
 
Man, you should see some of the stuff I have to go through here to get ANYTHING new.

It's like haggling with a used car dealer, i swear.
"Karl, we're having problems with the network"

"Well we *really* need to replace those 10 meg hubs with some real switches. Dell has a good deal on 24 port switches, i believe less than $200"

"Oh, that's *way* too expensive! I thought I saw an ad in the sunday paper for a switch for $49 at best buy?! Get those instead. You sure are stupid, paying $200 for something I can get for $50! hur hur hurrrr"
Click to expand...

me == angsty, sad and frustrated.


Not to mention the current UPS fiasco we just had as well.
 
are you actually the person responsible for i.t. within your organisation? but yet you dont have any budget? i think the best thing you could do is put a business case forward for spending some money ... listing all the pro's. at least then you have provided advice with some justification.

if the management then dont spend the money and it all goes pear shaped you can at least say 'i told you so'.
 
atomiser said:
are you actually the person responsible for i.t. within your organisation? but yet you dont have any budget? i think the best thing you could do is put a business case forward for spending some money ... listing all the pro's. at least then you have provided advice with some justification.

if the management then dont spend the money and it all goes pear shaped you can at least say 'i told you so'.
Click to expand...

before i started working at this company, the person i was replacing told me one thing.."she (my boss) will milk anything and everything to fullest extent..if you get her to buy something...thank god"
 
killerasp said:
before i started working at this company, the person i was replacing told me one thing.."she (my boss) will milk anything and everything to fullest extent..if you get her to buy something...thank god"
Click to expand...

Does that extent to employees if so i would suggest looking for a new job asap
 
Cover your ass. Make sure you establish a paper trail or something that shows that you advised her of the situation and recommended the purchase of a UPS. When things take a turn for the worst, and the mob is at your office door with pitchforks and torches, it will be easy to show who is really responsible. Plus, the "I told you so" factor is most satisfying :p
 
Bring to her attention and if all fails then wait about four to six weeks. Then every couple of days have a secret plug bandit unplug and replug the server. After the first couple of days she will get enough pressure from her bosses from the down time and the UPS/APS's will end up in. I know this is dirty pool but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
 
Just as nismo said... get written evidence that you recommended to her that the company invest in a UPS system. Also make sure you have a response from her stating she said it wasn't needed. That way you can't be held responsible for loss of data and down time.

I wouldn't recommend pulling the plug because it would be obvious there wasn't an outage if the rest of the building didn't experience power loss.

The best way to convince management to spend money is to show them how much it can save in the long run. Run the figures on how much money the company would loose for each outage per year, then show how much it would cost them for a UPS system. Most of the time it will work out that down time is very costly.
 
k1pp3r said:
Does that extent to employees if so i would suggest looking for a new job asap
Click to expand...

He might enjoy that if shes a MILF.


On a more serious note....demonstrate an ROI, most management types understand and respond to that. As mentioned above, the best way to do that is to demonstrate how much it would cost to replace a server that's seen one-too-many power anomolies, how much money the downtime would cost (per minute, if it's possible), and how much money the lost data would cost the company.

Anytime I push a new idea through my boss, and he likes it, the first thing he asks me to do is to justify it ($$$) and demonstrate an ROI so he can take it up the line and get approval for it. We dont have a budget here either, so everything has to be approved by the big cheeze.
 
Boscoh said:
He might enjoy that if shes a MILF.


On a more serious note....demonstrate an ROI, most management types understand and respond to that. As mentioned above, the best way to do that is to demonstrate how much it would cost to replace a server that's seen one-too-many power anomolies, how much money the downtime would cost (per minute, if it's possible), and how much money the lost data would cost the company.

Anytime I push a new idea through my boss, and he likes it, the first thing he asks me to do is to justify it ($$$) and demonstrate an ROI so he can take it up the line and get approval for it. We dont have a budget here either, so everything has to be approved by the big cheeze.
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good idea man. finally, im putting all this junk i learned in college to good use.
 
we did an estimate of how much our data was worth... this is a conservative estimate

40 employees
10 hours a week entering data
X $10 an hour average
since 1996

$4000 a week for 52 weeks x 8 years $3,349,632 was spent entering the data...

so yeah... data loss would be catastrophic... that is why we take a tape of our data off site every week... and we shoud do it more often... banks are real diligent.. they arrange it so there is always a copy of their data enroute.. there is a copy at each branch, and a copy in some secure location... that way, unless the fex-ex truck or plane, and both facilties get blown up at the same time.. the data will be kept...


now this doesn't tottaly have to do with a UPS, because i doubt you will lose all your data in a power outage... you just won't be able to function durring the power loss...
 
create an "issue"

one night when there is a really bad storm come in to work early and unplug some random servers and a few of the hubs (you trying to get new switches? dunno, if not then dont meh)

and be like the power surge must have taken them out... to think a UPS could have prevented it...

if she asks why it only took out the server make up some bs about how they are on 24/7 and they are very sensitive pieces of equipment that were naked and exposed to issues on the power lines :D

where there is a will there is a way...

perhaps some PoE? i would recommend you unplug HD's first when trying this method lol

EthernetKiller.jpg


*(I nor [H]ard|OCP and or the [H]ard|Forums take any responsibility for what you do :p)
 
That's bad advice.

Don't lie or screw with the equipment. It'll just come back to bite you in the ass sooner or later.
 
Did i forget to mention that we DONT have a single surge protector in the office.....
 
im glad u sed u have a tape off-site each week.

i was dreading the next thing that u were going to say was that backup is a swear word! :p

good luck with the ROI case! :)
 
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