Chicago (IL) – Tight budgets trigger difficult decisions these days, but some decisions that may indicate a budget cut, may actually result in increased cost. A new research report claims that the extension of the lifecycle of notebooks may cost companies more than it saves.
Companies typically keep computers for about 3 years before they are being replaced with newer systems. The current economic climate has many IT managers wondering whether it makes sense to keep those notebooks for a bit longer, before a new one is purchased. At least from a cost perspective, it appears that such a decision may actually be rather expensive.
According to findings published by J. Gold Associates, the added costs of keeping a machine for 5 years instead of 3 years actually exceeded the cost of purchasing a new notebook after year 3. The market research firm found that the cost to repair a failed notebook while under warranty is $1070, while the cost is about $1525 when not under warranty. Two extra years in the lifecycle may cost an extra $1050, according to J. Gold Associates, at least if we assume that the system fails at least once every year.
Those $1050 are more than what a company typically pays for a new notebook.
The market research firm also said that an outdated computer may cost a company $9600 in lost end-user productivity.
