CRANBERRY TWP — The township supervisors last month spent $164,000 to upgrade computers and software in the information technology department.

Adam Osterrieder, the director of the IT department, said the money spent pales in comparison to what it would have cost to completely replace aging computers.

Instead of spending $164,000 to replace those aging computers, the township spent the same amount on new hard drives in addition to updated software and servers.

Those new hard drives will double the amount of memory in the older computers.

Osterrieder said the township has more than 200 computers, three-quarters of which are nearing the end of their useful life.

The computers that got new hard drives can be used another two to three years, Osterrieder said.

What’s more, he said, is that employees will notice a drastic change in the speed and efficiency of their work computers.

“Our employees will see an immediate performance increase,” he said.

Osterrieder noted these items will buy some time for the IT department without sacrificing efficiency or productivity.

“These are short-term savings,” he said. “We’re always looking to save money while still being as efficient as possible.”