How to choose the right hardware to power your product

Whatever type of product your business creates - from sports simulators to MOT testing equipment, or something else entirely - you need the right hardware to power it.

But, for businesses across all industries, this can feel like a mammoth task. 

You want hardware that fits your exact specifications; that you can use out-of-the-box; that lasts; that doesn’t take up masses of time and resources to procure; and that isn’t going to rip open a Pandora’s box of problems further down the line.

But how do you go about actually procuring hardware that meets all of these requirements? And, equally, how do you streamline that process to make it cost effective and ensure minimal setup or configuration?

We’re here to help. We’ll run you through the risks you take when you use incompatible hardware, how to choose the right hardware, and how we at Novatech can help streamline this process. 

The dangers of choosing the wrong hardware

While the type of hardware you require will vary depending on your specific product - whether you need PCs, peripherals, servers, or something else - there are a plethora of challenges that arise when you choose off-the-shelf or incompatible pieces of hardware. 

First, you need to ensure that hardware has the right specifications built in to seamlessly integrate with your product. If it’s built or configured incorrectly, or if you choose an incompatible product, this can mean huge financial costs - both in terms of labour time and the costs of fixing or replacing items.

“Issues can arise where an engineer has got to site and they find they don’t have the cables they need, or the equipment doesn’t work,” says Novatech’s VAR lead, Nathan Brown. “If businesses get that wrong, it could cost them a hundred, two hundred pound a throw.” 

Second, buying products off the shelf can also be a risk in itself. This is because you might then end up spending a long time configuring the hardware and making changes so that it integrates with your product - or even having to shell out to pay someone else to do it. 

“Some customers will have to set their PCs up - they’ll have to pay people in their warehouse to get it out of the box, plug it into the screen, install the applications, and do the setting changes they need to,” says Nathan. “And that could take them two or three hours a go.” 

And lastly, it can be difficult to know what to charge for your product when you’re procuring external hardware to build into it. So, you might want to look for standardised pricing to help address that. “There’s value in having a price that’s stable,” Nathan adds. 

How to choose the right hardware

So, we’ve covered the things that can go awry when you choose the wrong hardware to power your product. So, how do you go about choosing the right hardware?

First, says Nathan, start by closely examining what you’re currently using and whether it’s working for you. If it isn’t, it’s worth looking at what you can do to improve performance. 

To do that, ask yourself:

- What equipment is this powering?

- What specifications do I need?

- What do I want the user experience to look like?

“One thing I talk about a lot is trying to turn a PC into an appliance,” Nathan explains. “So, rather than it being a PC that you can walk into a shop and buy, it’s a PC specifically engineered for that product. It’s the settings, changes, configurations, and the testing that will set that apart.” 

So, it’s worth procuring hardware from a vendor that can work with you to implement these changes before it’s delivered, to use tried-and-tested hardware that isn’t going to fail on your customers and that your team will know how to use, and ensure that all your hardware has the right specifications to integrate with your product. 

Lastly, keep in mind the commercial aspect of things. How easy is that hardware to supply? How reliable is it? How easy is it to support? 

Looking for a trustworthy partner to help you power your product? 

At Novatech, we have decades of experience in powering products across a range of industries - both nationwide and overseas. 

With our reliable, high-quality and cost-effective bespoke IT hardware, we can work with you to find and customise the right hardware for your business. So, you can sit back and focus on the important stuff, knowing that your hardware procurement is in safe hands. 

 
“It gives customers an easy life,” says Nathan. “It’s low risk. They know what they’re going to get. And they know it’s going to work.” 

If it sounds like we can help you find the right hardware to power your product, get in touch here.