It’s time to say goodbye. Your company laptop has been by your side for two years—powering through late nights, early mornings, and endless updates. But as its warranty nears expiration, keeping it around might be costing your business more than you think.
According to the U.S. Service Center, “80% of total IT costs occur after the initial purchase.” That means beyond the sticker price, additional expenses—like maintenance, network security, and system inefficiencies—can drive up the total cost of ownership by as much as 80% per year.
Without a structured refresh strategy, aging IT assets can drain your budget, expose your company to compliance risks, and slow down operations. That’s why having a proactive IT hardware refresh plan is essential—not just to upgrade devices, but to protect your business from costly inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities.
Refresh Management: What is it and why is it important?
IT Hardware Refresh Management is the process of updating, replacing, or upgrading an organization’s IT hardware—such as servers, workstations, laptops, networking equipment, and peripherals. This process is key to ensure optimal performance, security, and efficiency. If you are not properly refreshing your assets, it puts your company in a vulnerable position and here’s why:
- Security & Compliance
- Older hardware may not support the latest security patches, leaving systems vulnerable to cyber threats.
- Helps organizations meet regulatory and compliance requirements.
- Performance & Productivity
- Aging hardware slows down operations, leading to inefficiencies and SLA breaches.
- Ensures employees have up-to-date tools to support business applications and workflows.
- Cost Efficiency
- Proactive refresh cycles reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by minimizing repair and support expenses.
- Avoids unexpected downtime that can lead to lost revenue and productivity.
- Sustainability & Responsible Disposal
- Properly decommissioning outdated equipment ensures compliance with environmental regulations.
- Reduces e-waste through recycling or repurposing programs.
- Strategic IT Planning
- Aligns IT infrastructure with business growth and digital transformation goals.
- Helps in budgeting and forecasting technology investments effectively.
What happens when you don’t have a refresh strategy…
What happens when companies don’t have a clear refresh strategy? One of AMI’s customers—a large hospital—found out the hard way. Their IT team struggled with a manual, time-consuming process for forecasting yearly refresh needs. Budget planning was equally cumbersome, leading to inefficiencies and unexpected costs.
Without an automated system, assets were frequently overlooked, allowing outdated equipment to remain on the network long past its retirement date. This created serious security vulnerabilities, increased maintenance incidents, and caused performance issues that disrupted IT operations.
Achieving Visibility and Consistency
Accurate forecasting starts with capturing essential asset data from day one—such as purchase date, cost, and expected lifespan. With this foundation in place, businesses can generate meaningful reports and set proactive alerts for upcoming hardware refreshes.
To solve this challenge, the hospital partnered with AMI to automate their refresh management process. By integrating asset cost tracking and retirement calculations from the outset, they established a seamless system that provided instant access to critical data—eliminating guesswork and ensuring refresh cycles stayed on track.
Leveraging Data & Analytics for Informed Decisions
Once asset data was being captured consistently and accurately, AMI developed a Hardware Refresh Forecast Report for the hospital. This report:
- Forecasts the next five years, automatically updating on January 1st each year.
- Displays the number of assets requiring refresh, categorized by model type.
- Enables IT teams to plan equipment purchases efficiently.
Additionally, AMI implemented a Hardware Refresh Cost Breakdown Report, which provides the same forecasted data but focuses on financial planning. Instead of highlighting asset quantities, it delivers the financial insights needed for budgeting the upcoming year.
The Bottom Line
Regular hardware refresh cycles mitigate security risks, enhance efficiency, and ensure long-term IT stability. Organizations that neglect refresh management often face increased costs, security threats, and outdated technology that hinders growth. By leveraging automation and data-driven insights, businesses can streamline their refresh strategy and maintain a secure, high-performing IT environment.
Want to take the guesswork out of IT refresh management? AMI’s solutions provide the automation and insights you need to forecast, budget, and refresh your IT assets with confidence. Contact us today to see how we can help you break up with your laptop.
