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Are your employees facing constant downtimes due to system issues? Research suggests that 20 percent of employees’ time is wasted on computer problems.
To resolve these issues, each organization must periodically perform a hardware refresh, also known as a hardware refresh cycle. For IT teams, this cycle means recurring capital expenses, extensive procurement processes, and significant downtime.
Therefore, organizations are looking for IT solutions that can extend refresh cycles and provide operational flexibility. Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is one such solution that offers access to cloud-based virtual desktops, reducing the in-house IT dependencies.
In this blog, we will discuss why hardware refresh cycles lead to substantial costs and how DaaS can minimize them.
Understanding the Hardware Refresh Cycle
A hardware refresh cycle refers to the planned replacement of IT devices at regular intervals. A simple example is how phones or laptops need to be upgraded over time, as newer technologies, applications, and operating systems gradually stop supporting older hardware.
For IT teams, planning a hardware refresh cycle requires careful consideration, as poor timing or execution can lead to operational disruptions and downtime. While there is no fixed rule, most organizations typically refresh their hardware every 3 to 5 years.
So, why is a hardware refresh cycle necessary? Here are the key reasons.
1. Technological Advancement
As new technological solutions like AI evolve, they require high-configuration devices for data processing. Hence, you need to upgrade the existing hardware to meet the software requirements.
2. Security Vulnerabilities
According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in 2025 is over 4 million USD. Hence, organizations must ensure a robust on-premise security infrastructure. However, as IT devices age, they become more vulnerable to advanced cyber threats.
For instance, operating systems stop providing security updates for the older versions (like Windows 10). Moreover, the outdated devices lack the hardware configuration required for the new-age data security applications.
Suggested Read: Windows 10 End-of-Life: What You Should Do Now!
3. End of Vendor Support
As hardware becomes obsolete, it is quite challenging to procure replacement parts. Moreover, the manufacturers stop providing support after a certain period of time.
4. Maintenance Cost of Ageing Devices
The ageing hardware experiences more problems over time. IT devices become prone to issues, such as hard disk failures, battery degradation, overheating, and OS corruption. It demands significant time and effort from the IT team for replacement and repairs.
The ongoing IT activities for these outdated devices make it more feasible to replace the hardware than to repair it regularly.
Hardware Refresh Cycle: The Cost Considerations
Hardware refresh is an absolute necessity for any organization to maintain performance, security, and reliability. However, some associated cost parameters make hardware refresh challenging. If you are planning to implement it, you must consider these costs:
1. Hardware Procurement Costs
The primary and most significant cost incurred during a hardware refresh is procuring new IT devices. Servers, local systems, or laptops, every device puts an additional financial burden on the business. Moreover, these devices cause additional deployment costs. This capital expenditure escalates with every refresh cycle because, as your business grows, the number of devices also increases.
2. Downtime Costs
Hardware refresh is a long and planned activity that does not happen in a few hours. When replacing the hardware, the IT team must be involved in multiple activities, including data backup, configuration mapping, software installation, security settings adjustments, and testing.
Moreover, during this change, several processes can go wrong, further delaying the process. It causes the organization to lose business hours and revenue.
3. Training Costs
After the hardware refresh, employees are introduced to upgraded systems with different operating systems and interfaces. Hence, organizations need to invest in training programs to ensure quick adoption of the new devices.
4. Hardware Disposal
As organizations adopt new devices during the refresh process, they also need to dispose of the old ones. They must send the existing hardware for recycling and invest in data-wiping tools.
5. Software Licensing Costs
During the hardware refresh, the upgraded IT devices are installed with the latest operating systems and applications. These require fresh licenses, which incur additional costs to the organization.
Shift to Desktop-as-a-Service and cut hardware costs, downtime, and IT complexity—without sacrificing performance.
Desktop-as-a-Service: Minimizing Hardware Refresh Cycle Costs
DaaS solutions significantly reduces the need for frequent hardware refresh cycles by minimizing reliance on in-house IT infrastructure. By outsourcing desktop environments to a third-party cloud provider, organizations shift from capital-intensive hardware investments to a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model, paying only for the resources they actually use.
Let’s explore how adopting Desktop-as-a-Service helps lower overall hardware refresh costs.
1. CAPEX
Desktop-as-a-Service providers offer access to virtual desktops over the internet, enabling employees to use their personal devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It empowers businesses to deploy BYOD policies more conveniently across the organization, thereby eliminating the need to invest in new on-premise hardware.
Moreover, as virtual desktops are created on the cloud servers, employees do not need a high-configuration device to access them. Hence, organizations can work with the systems they have for a longer period without the need for a hardware refresh.
2. Downtime Costs
The downtime associated with a hardware refresh cycle is noteworthy. Desktop-as-a-Service prevents these downtime costs by reducing the frequency of the hardware refresh cycle. DaaS providers perform all upgrades and maintenance activities in the background without interrupting end users.
3. Cyber Security
One of the primary motives of initiating a hardware refresh cycle is to prepare the in-house IT infrastructure for the evolving cyber threats. With Desktop-as-a-Service, you get virtual desktops protected by an advanced security infrastructure.
The providers deploy a multi-layered security environment with advanced features, such as threat intelligence, endpoint threat detection, multi-factor authentication, data encryption, intrusion detection and prevention, OS patching, network filtering, and more.
Moreover, they host virtual desktops in Tier-5 data centers. These facilities are highly secure with features such as multi-level access, flood detection systems, CCTV surveillance, and infrastructure redundancy to ensure complete data protection.
4. IT Costs
A significant amount of the IT team’s time is required for hardware refreshes, which they can utilize in other core activities. Moreover, the IT team needs to work overtime, or businesses sometimes need additional staff to perform the refresh – all this leading to labor costs.
With DaaS, all these costs are eliminated as the provider’s technical team takes care of hardware maintenance, replacements, and upgrades at the backend.
5. Operational Costs
With every hardware refresh, upgrading or adding more on-premises IT devices increases overall power consumption, leading to higher electricity costs. In contrast, Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) shifts compute workloads to the cloud, where desktops run on the provider’s infrastructure.
Employees only need lightweight or portable endpoint devices to access their virtual desktops, which significantly reduces on-site power usage and helps organizations better control and optimize energy consumption.
Deploy high-performance cloud desktops, extend device lifespans, and let our experts handle infrastructure, security, and upgrades.
Conclusion
Organizations plan a hardware refresh to keep their IT infrastructure updated with the latest technological innovations and data security protocols. However, these cycles lead to considerable capital and operational expenses, consuming a major part of the organization’s budget.
Desktop-as-a-Service ensures fewer cycles with high-performance virtual desktops on the cloud that can be accessed from the most primitive devices. If you want to know more about how Desktop-as-a-Service can reduce hardware refresh cycle costs or experience Desktop-as-a-Service features yourself, reach out to our Solutions Consultants now or opt for a free trial.
