It’s 2025, and yet, slow computers are still a problem! I’m always surprised by how often this issue comes up. At our MSP, we survey every user during the onboarding process for new clients. One of the questions we ask is simple:
“Is your computer fast enough to avoid slowing you down in your daily tasks?”
You’d be shocked by how many people are slowed down by their computer!
A few extra seconds to open a file or launch an app might not sound like a big deal. But those seconds are just long enough for users to pull out their phones, check their email, or open a browser tab. It’s a small distraction that snowballs into lost focus, reduced productivity, and frustration.
And here’s the kicker: even if a company follows a strict hardware lifecycle policy, that doesn’t mean every device is always keeping up with the user’s needs. Roles change, software demands increase, and what was “fast enough” last year might be a bottleneck today.
That’s why we don’t just ask once. We survey end users annually to keep tabs on performance issues and catch slowdowns before they become a productivity drain.
As a vCIO, this is one of the easiest, most impactful wins you can deliver. It costs almost nothing to ask the question, and the insights you gain can directly lead to happier, more efficient clients.
If you’re not already doing this, start today. Ask users during onboarding if their machine is fast enough and make it a point to revisit that question every year. It’s the lowest-hanging fruit in the world of productivity and one your clients will thank you for addressing.
Simon is the President of S3 Technologies, a leading Canadian MSP he co-founded in 2003. He built and scaled the vCIO team which eventually lead to him co-founding Propel Your MSP in 2018 to help MSPs with their vCIO services.
