Charting a course to hardware resilience: How equal2new® empowers organizations to overcome procurement challenges

The modern digital-first world requires organizations to think and act quickly, which creates the need for systems that can handle problems, recover from issues, and keep working in different situations.

This makes IT hardware resilience one of the most critical pillars of organizational success.

Ensuring hardware resilience is not only about having the latest equipment but creating a flexible, cost-effective, and sustainable IT environment to meet current and future needs. Traditional procurement strategies do not cut it anymore because companies now need a plan to build functional reliability and ensure minimum downtime for a favorable customer experience.

A resilient hardware approach helps ensure the following:

• Business continuity and minimum downtime for uninterrupted business operations.
• Improved cost efficiency by optimizing hardware usage and lifecycle management.
• Smooth scalability of resources to match growing business demands.
• Competitive advantage and ability to respond quickly to market changes and customer demands.

Before we explore how we can guarantee hardware resilience, understand the limitations of traditional procurement strategies and broad benefits of incorporating refurbished equipment into IT resilience plans.

Limitations of traditional procurement strategies

Organizations have relied primarily on purchasing new hardware to meet their IT infrastructure needs. While these traditional procurement models have become the norm, they can significantly hinder operational agility and impact turnaround times.

Drawbacks of this approach include:

• High costs: New hardware purchases often require substantial capital expenditure, which may strain IT budgets and limit investments in other critical areas.
• Long wait times: Global supply chain disruptions in recent years have highlighted the vulnerability of traditional procurement models. It impacts organizations’ ability to respond to changing needs or unexpected failures.
• Overprovisioning: Organizations often resort to overprovisioning, purchasing more equipment than immediately necessary, to mitigate long lead times. This may lead to inefficient resource utilization and increased costs.
• Faster obsolescence: The fast pace of technological advancement means new hardware can become outdated quickly, potentially leaving organizations with expensive equipment that no longer meets their needs.
• Adverse environmental impact: The constant cycle of purchasing new hardware and disposing of old equipment contributes significantly to electronic waste, prompting the search for a more sustainable long-term approach.
• Lack of flexibility: Traditional procurement models often lack the agility to respond quickly to changing business needs or unexpected challenges, such as sudden increases in remote work requirements.

Need for "Just-in-time" procurement models

To overcome limitations, organizations increasingly recognize the need for more flexible, "just-in-time" procurement models to:

• Reduce lead times and improve responsiveness to changing needs.
• Optimize inventory management and reduce overprovisioning.
• Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for IT infrastructure.
• Enhance sustainability by extending lifecycle of IT equipment.

A strategy for implementing a more agile procurement model is integrating high-quality refurbished equipment into the IT infrastructure. This approach along with solutions, like equal2new® from CXtec, offer a compelling alternative to traditional procurement models.

Unlocking the benefits of refurbished resilience

Incorporating refurbished equipment into IT resilience strategies offers benefits that directly overlap the limitations of traditional procurement models.

Operational agility
Ensuring operational agility essentially comes down to building faster deployment and the ability to upscale with changing business demands. Refurbished equipment can help with this process:

• Faster deployment times: Refurbished equipment is typically available with significantly shorter wait times than new hardware. This takes the load off of waiting for new equipment to arrive and allows organizations to respond to changing business needs.
• Flexible scaling: Refurbished hardware allows organizations to quickly scale their infrastructure up or down as needed without the long-term commitments associated with new hardware purchases.

Cost savings
Opting for refurbished hardware can help you optimize resource allocation and lower acquisition costs over a period of time.

• Lower acquisition costs: High-quality refurbished equipment can offer 40-70% savings compared to new hardware prices, allowing organizations to stretch their IT budgets and invest in other critical areas.
• Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): By extending the life cycle of their IT equipment, organizations can significantly lower their TCO over time.
• Optimized maintenance costs: Refurbished equipment providers typically offer comprehensive warranty and support options, often at lower costs than OEM support.

Uninterrupted business continuity
Business continuity is a critical factor for building operational reliability in a crisis. Refurbished hardware providers understand and offer continuous support to minimize downtime and build operational excellence.

• Improved availability: With faster access to replacement parts and equipment, organizations can minimize downtime and maintain business continuity more effectively.
• Extended product life: Refurbished equipment can help organizations maintain consistency in their IT environment, even when specific models are no longer available as new.
• Legacy system support: For organizations that rely on older systems, refurbished equipment can provide a lifeline by offering compatible hardware that may no longer be available new.

Environmental sustainability
Refurbished hardware is a great choice for your corporate sustainability goals because it promotes less electronic waste by leveraging the circular economy and promotes better optimization of resources.

• Reduced e-waste: By extending the lifecycle of IT equipment, organizations can significantly reduce their contribution to e-waste.
• Lower carbon footprint: Reusing and refurbishing equipment requires significantly less energy and resources than manufacturing new hardware, contributing to a lower overall carbon footprint.

Partnering with CXtec for informed IT resilience strategy with refurbished hardware

As refurbished hardware becomes a part of your IT resilience strategy, partnering with a reliable provider can help you balance operational performance with low costs. CXtec can help you find the ideal solution for your infrastructure needs. With equal2new and four decades of expertise in the refurbished hardware space, we are well-positioned to help you navigate hardware resilience and customize a solution to meet your needs.

What you get with equal2new:

• Quality assurance: All our equipment undergoes a comprehensive certified refurbishment process, ensuring that it meets or exceeds OEM specifications.
• Access to extensive inventory: Choose from our vast inventory of refurbished equipment across brands and product lines to quickly fulfill your IT needs.
• All-around support: With access to expert technical support, we ensure a smooth customer experience while reducing long-term maintenance costs with RapidCare®, our premier aftermarket services.
• Environmental responsibility: By partnering with us, organizations can contribute to the circular economy by reducing e-waste and enabling sustainable IT practices.

Ready to take your IT resilience strategy to the next level? Connect with us now.