If you’re one of the over 4 million people who pre-ordered the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus within the first 24 hours, you already get the idea that you need to upgrade to enjoy the very best in technology. And you knew, without actually being told, that when you bought your new Apple iPhone last year (or the year before, no matter, it wasn’t that long ago) there’d be a newer and better one soon enough. You’re willing to go through the expense year after year because you know that each generation of phone has a more powerful architecture to handle your increasingly demanding, and changing, mobile tasks.

Yet when you bought your enterprise server, let’s say, five years ago, you pretty much called it a done deal. It was a significant expense, though worth it. After all, your infrastructure houses ALL of your digital assets. You know, the ones you simply can’t stay in business without. So, you had to do it...but you figured you were done and wouldn’t need to do that again, for, well, at least for a good long while.

Oooops. Wrong.

As you know, time changes everything; the natural accumulation of your files, newer, faster, more demanding applications and updates, more complex operations, shorter deadlines, and more automation. Sure, you took good care; patched, tested, paid for the maintenance contract, and treated the solution as the precious resource it was. Meanwhile you’ve left your infrastructure as is. Not so terrific...and here’s why.

As the infrastructure ages, for all those reasons above, performance slows down. Not all at once, but a bit at a time. It’s gradual. As with all pain, you live with it. First, a twinge. Then, an ache. Eventually, something makes you realize that it’s time for action. What used to be fast and efficient, isn’t any more. Your team is pulling out their collective hairs because they can’t meet deadlines due to slow or, worse, down servers.

It’s also painful to need to budget all over again. “We solved that in 2011, what again?” But reality is, to keep up and keep on productively you should plan on replacing your enterprise server every three years. Is your time now?

Here are five factors to help you determine if you have, indeed, outgrown your infrastructure:

1. Your database is falling behind

2. Maintenance costs are rising

3. You're afraid to reboot because the server may not come back up

4. Newer enterprise applications aren't compatible

5. Backups are still running on Monday

And...as a bonus #6 to all our blog readers...you’re realizing your server is anything but energy efficient.

The good news is, as time was busy making this purchase necessary, it also made it more affordable than before.

So, maybe it’s time now. And for all the right reasons. But how to stay on track for the future? Why not use something easy to remember? Try setting your server replacement schedule for every other iPhone release.

Update and up your productivity! Explore infrastructure options here: http://napc.com/hardware

Not too long ago, a Community Manager for a large and popular company grabbed an image off the web and posted it. “Well?” you wonder, “What’s so news-worthy about that? We do that all the time, where I work.” Turns out, that image was not in the slightest what that person thought it was. Not only was it not a colorful image depicting an historic U.S. celebration, but rather a tragic moment of national horror captured on film.

No doubt, by the time the news broke and a sick feeling started to sink in with the company’s CEO, that Community Manager was already long gone. It’s a guarantee that he or she will never work in their industry again. But that was just the beginning. The ripple effect from that one seemingly insignificant event cascaded a torrential wave of hate and doubt on the entire company, brand and all. Stocks plummeted, jobs were lost and a reputation was forever marred.

Whether this company will ever, ever regain any credibility remains to be seen, as they will forever be Googled as the company that royally f*%# up.

And all of this happened simply because they did not have a system in place for gathering, organizing and storing images for their social media.

Blindly entering criterion into a search engine like Google Images is just not the way. You’ve got to properly mind your store. And if you’re not the one managing your database of photography, then you need to set firm guidelines for the person who is.

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter...sound familiar? If you use them (and of course you do), then you need to set yourself up immediately under any one of these solutions; Content Management System (CMS), Digital Asset Management (DAM), Brand Asset Management (BAM), or Content Delivery Network (CDN).

These can help you safely and effectively create a stockpile of amazing images that are just what you need, ready at a moment’s notice. No more guessing what they are, or where they came from. No more last-minute, frantic searches.

If only that Community Manager had known, we’d have an entirely different theme for this blog.

But sometimes it takes a mega-error to help us reflect upon what we’re doing, and not doing right.

Stop the risk here and now.

Find your perfect digital management solution.