Posted on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 in Storage, Storage Hardware
Many customers first come into contact with CDS as part of a migration project, moving their front line storage to a new vendor as part of their latest hardware refresh. As the maintenance agreement covering the “old” equipment expires, CDS provides maintenance for it until the new equipment is online and ready to take over.
At this point, many organisations simply decommission and recycle the old equipment. But is it possible that there is a way to create an even greater return on investment?
Does it really need to be retired?
For many businesses, the logical next stage after successful hardware roll-out is to securely dump the old systems. But the reality is that this equipment is still functioning perfectly well – the only potential problem is that the OEM’s warranty/maintenance coverage has ended.
These systems could be redeployed easily and effectively in other non-mission critical roles. With the assistance of a third party maintenance contract, these redundant systems can actually be pushed back into service for a further three to five years.
Re-using old hardware in this way allows you to incrementally upgrade the performance of even older systems for instance. Alternatively, you can augment your development capabilities, or use the storage to underpin an in-house private cloud. Virtually every asset you can be redeployed to improve your operations in some way.
Any other options?
If you do decide to go ahead and retire the hardware, bear in mind that there is almost certainly residual value left in those systems. You should discuss how to resell these assets in order to maximize the return on your investment – here at CDS we may even make an offer to supplement our extensive spare parts library.
Next steps
Whichever path you choose, migration between vendors is not the end of the story for your retired hardware. Give CDS a call today to discuss your options.
– See more at: http://www.cds.net/blog/2017/03/why-dump-old-kit/#sthash.tguHjoLV.dpuf