Refurbished IT equipment delivers savings and performance
In good economies and bad, the strategy of purchasing used IT equipment still computes
By Tiffany Bloomer
Small- and midsize businesses everywhere face fierce economic pressures in today’s climate of reduced sales and high operating costs. To add to these pressures, there is still a continuous need to update systems and IT infrastructure to keep pace with increasing Internet traffic, online customer service and general business demands. One of the ways businesses have coped with these economic pressures is by purchasing refurbished servers, hardware, routers and other IT equipment. It is a growing practice that saves money and reduces equipment acquisition time while still providing the performance needed for most business applications. This paper will examine the reasons why refurbished IT equipment makes sense for a vast majority of small- and midsize businesses.
What does “refurbished” mean?
Refurbished IT equipment is used equipment that has been cleaned, tested, reconfigured and warranted for further use. Many large businesses, research universities and other enterprises with demanding IT requirements purchase equipment on short-term leases. By continually replacing their IT equipment on a regular basis, they avail themselves of the fastest and most advanced technologies that meet their needs. When short-term equipment leases expire, used servers, routers, switches, PCs and other IT equipment come on the resale market.
While many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Dell and HP have equipment coming off these short-term leases, they generally choose to liquidate it rather than recondition it and resell it on the open market – OEMs typically are not interested and don’t specialize in refurbishing equipment. This creates a continuous pool of like-new refurbished IT equipment that only needs to be cleaned, tested and reconfigured by companies that specialize in reconditioning IT equipment.
