UnHacked Episode 20: Productivity and Cybersecurity on a Budget
Main Topics:
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for Technology
- - Discussed how focusing solely on upfront costs can lead to higher expenses long-term
- - Used example of a project manager being "dead in the water" for 2 days due to old equipment
- - Calculated real costs of equipment per hour (~30-50 cents/hour for quality equipment)
- - Explained how cheap equipment often leads to productivity losses exceeding cost savings
- Hardware Investment Strategy
- - Recommended replacing computers every 3-5 years
- - Emphasized importance of SSD drives and adequate processing power
- - Discussed how employee productivity losses from slow equipment far exceed hardware savings
- - Advised against reusing old equipment for new employees
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- Cybersecurity Investment
- - Basic security package costs approximately $40-70 per computer per month
- - Emphasized that cutting cybersecurity costs can be catastrophic
- - Discussed upcoming Windows 10 end-of-life (October 2025) implications
- - Stressed importance of planning hardware upgrades to maintain security compliance
Key Takeaways:
- Better equipment often costs less long-term when factoring in productivity and downtime
- Security investments are non-negotiable for business survival
- Consider both hard costs (equipment) and soft costs (employee frustration, productivity)
- Plan incremental upgrades rather than wholesale replacements
- Factor in warranty and support when purchasing equipment
Notable Quote: "We can change your world by giving you the right equipment, giving your employees the right equipment [...] for pennies per hour."
The episode emphasized that while being budget-conscious is important, cutting costs on technology and security often leads to higher total expenses and increased business risk.