Take Inventory on Your Old Technology

Do you have a plan to deal with your old technology, or do you have a closet full of used equipment? Are you aware of your equipment's refresh dates, or do you just replace components after they break? Knowing the condition of your technology, and having a plan to deal with old equipment, will save your business money.

An example of how a good equipment disposal plan can save you money comes from Google. Since 2007 Google has been recycling and refurbishing old servers in their datacenters. By being intentional about disposing of and reusing their old equipment, Google has been able to avoid having to purchase 90,000 server units! While you probably don't have thousands of servers to cycle through like Google, you might have several older pieces of equipment that can be disposed of in a way that saves you money.

Before you commit to be like Google and start recycling all of your old technology, you will first want to take the time to assess your IT situation. This means taking inventory on all of your equipment and reviewing what needs to be replaced. With a deep understanding of what you have, you can then squeeze more productivity out of your equipment. This is a service that SMART Services is uniquely qualified for with our years of working with different IT networks.

A thorough investigation of your equipment's performance, along with an investigation of that hardware, will tell us a lot about what kind of shape your network is in. When we couple this inspection process, along with referencing the refresh rates provided by the manufactures (which is like a technology expiration date), then we will be able to come up with an accurate technology replacement plan that will maximize the life and performance of your equipment.

Another way that a technology review plan can save you money is by determining if you have any equipment that's underutilized, or finding redundant pieces of equipment that can be refurbished or recycled. Once we map out your network and have a clear picture of the condition of the equipment, we can then provide you with money saving solutions.

One popular solution is called server virtualization. This is a process by which we are able to consolidate your older servers, that may have one or two applications on them, into newer and more powerful server that are able run multiple applications without any problem, thus freeing you up to downsize your server units, sometimes by as much as 4-to-1.

Taking advantage of a print server solution is another good way to consolidate your old technology. When it comes time to install a print server solution, we will evaluate your printing layout and map a more efficient way to use the printers you have so you can reduce the total number of printers used. There are several other great solutions available, like refurbishing your old technology with new parts, and finding buyers for your old technology to make a small profit.

By evaluating your network and enacting great solutions, you will end up with a network that's optimally designed to better meet your needs. This will end up saving you money in maintaining equipment, and even be good for the environment because you end up refurbishing and reusing, instead of filling a landfill.

After your newly redesigned network is setup, you will then want to keep it going strong to get the most life out of it. SMART Services's managed IT services will remotely keep your network running smoothly to help extend its life; call us at 586 258-0650 to learn more!