What is your current hardware procurement strategy? Are you simply doing things the way they’ve always been done?
What if you looked at your IT environment through a different lens—one that focuses more on what best suits your business and budget? See how Curvature can offer members a better way to fix their hardware and maintenance strategy through OMNIA Partners, Private Sector.
What kind of company could you help build if you operated with a growth mindset when it came to your hardware and maintenance strategy rather than one fixed by a manufacturer?
This thought exercise is one that should apply to every step and stage of deploying, managing and maintaining IT assets—from upgrading components, extending the useful life of existing gear, introducing third-party maintenance and rethinking vendor selection criteria. The only way for your company to grow is to allow for a strategy that encourages constant development and refinement, rather than static fixed methodologies.
This mindset also extends to equipment procurement—especially servers, switches and routers—as not all IT gear is the same. Therefore, not all equipment should be treated the same. Large savings can be found by turning to the secondary market for pre-owned hardware. While it may be “old” by manufacturers’ standards, most of these products have a useful life of a decade or more—if cared for properly—and even most manufacturers begrudgingly admit that. In fact, rethinking labels like “old” allows a company to rethink their procurement strategy all together. Rather than a road block, older equipment can be developed into a hardware procurement strategy that fosters more opportunities for savings and growth.
Pre-owned gear often comes fully configured, pre-assembled and customized, which streamlines deployment significantly. Leading secondary market companies also deliver anywhere in the world—in most cases, by next business day. Try getting delivery like that from any manufacturer.
For organizations new to this strategy, it’s important to do your homework. Secondary market leaders have invested heavily in their own test facilities to ensure all gear is port- and load-tested. Certified engineers put all equipment through rigorous paces to ensure efficiency and reliability that matches—and in many cases, exceeds—manufacturers’ standards.The secondary market is a two-way street. Do not overlook asset disposition and recovery. Depending on the vendor you partner with, disposing of equipment doesn’t always have to result in an additional cost. TPM’s like Curvature offer IT asset disposition services (ITAD) to safely decommission and dispose of old or unused equipment.Devices can be securely repurposed, resold, or recycled. Trade in your displaced or unwanted hardware—instead of junking it or stashing it and the result is “found” money.
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In the end, it’s all about opinions and options. Everyone has an opinion, so when you’re looking to pursue new procurement methods, take a listen—especially from those not tied to one manufacturer or method. As for options, it should start with not feeling pressured to upgrade anything before you must. End-of-life doesn’t mean end of the world. Instead, it means you have other options that can give you flexibility to put your business first.
To view the full article, visit the link on Curvature’s website: here
