How to Increase Your IT Budget by Liquidating Your IT Assets
IT departments across America’s school districts, businesses, and other organizations have come to expect demands to do more with less. As a result, any opportunity to preserve some of the IT budget is rightfully celebrated.
One area where organizations can ‘find money’ is in the IT equipment it already owns.
In today’s rapidly advancing technology landscape, most devices and equipment last no more than five years, and in some cases much less. When technology equipment is fully depreciated and ready to be written-off, many are ready to simply dispose of it. But IT asset liquidation presents an opportunity to recoup funds that may not have been originally anticipated.
There are three key areas to consider before liquidating your IT assets:
1. Which Assets to Liquidate
Keep a running inventory of what you have in your department. You can liquidate most end-of-life technology equipment including computer desktops, laptops, monitors, data center equipment, phones, printers, and more. In most cases, the more well-known the brand is, the more you will get back. Another key part of finding what assets would be the most appropriate to liquidate, is the quantity. Most asset liquidation companies look for distributed assets of 100 or more, while servers and larger equipment can be much less.
2. Which IT Asset Liquidation Services You Need
As disposing of IT equipment often comes with specific requirements, look for an organization that offers a full suite of services and takes care of the complete lifecycle of decommissioning assets. For example, you will most likely need help to de-install servers, or to sanitize computer data. Your equipment will also need to be stored, packaged and palletized before it can be removed. Additionally, consider the transportation services. Depending on how much equipment you have, you may have logistical challenges you need help with. Make a checklist of all of your requirements.
Also, don’t forget to think about what happens after you return your equipment. Beware of firms that simply dump equipment without protecting your data and recycling the appropriate assets. Reconditioned computers, phones, laptops, and more reduces e-waste and offers others an opportunity to obtain useful items at an affordable price.
3. Where the Money Goes
Typically, when companies liquidate IT assets, the company that provides the service delivers the refund in the form of a check that goes to your company or organization. While this unexpected recouped money is great, IT teams often never directly see the benefit because the money usually goes into a corporate general fund. It is important to be aware of this in the event that you want to explore other alternatives, such as applying the amount in a credit that can be used by the IT department for upgraded hardware and even services.
If you are ready to refresh or upgrade your IT equipment, contact 2NDGEAR to discuss our IT Asset Liquidation services. This will provide you an easy, responsible way to dispose of your old gear and end up with buyback value that can be applied to new equipment, upgrades, services or other IT expenses.
Contact us today at info@2ndgear.com or click here for more information.
