4 Ways Your Business Can Deal With Aging IT Equipment 

Running a business these days almost always means investing in IT equipment. That can include everything from laptops and routers right on up to racks filled with servers. Yet, this same equipment you need also has a limited lifespan that may prove as short as 3 years.

Once you pass that three-year mark, you know you’re just counting down until the day you must inevitably replace that old hardware. Once you do replace it, though, what do you do with the old tech?

If you’re replacing aged computers soon or have old equipment lying around, keep reading for four ways you can deal with that old technology.

1. Sell It

Many businesses will keep using their tech until it actually fails. There are a lot of businesses that can’t do that. Any business that works in a processing-heavy field, such as computer animation, must often replace tech before it fails.

The old hardware just can’t keep up with the demands. In cases like that, you can often sell the hardware to another business with less intensive processing demands.

2. Trade It In

A lot of tech companies will let you trade in old technology for a discount on new technology. If you aren’t ready to buy just yet, they’ll often offer store credit or even gift cards for your old laptops, phones, and tablets.

It’s a fairly straightforward method of computer disposal that can ease a little bit of the financial pain of getting replacement tech. It can also serve as a space-saving measure if you move from desktop systems to more compact notebooks and tablets for everyday work.

3. Recycle It

IT equipment recycling or e-cycling isn’t like normal recycling. Computers contain components and heavy metals that require special processing. If you just throw them away in the regular trash, those heavy metals may leech into the soil.

You must take the tech to a dedicated e-cycling service. If you do, make sure they use data scrubbing software, such as certus.software/en/itad/, to protect your and your customers’ information.

4. Donate It

If you have functional tech that you can’t trade-in or sell and you don’t want to just recycle it, consider donating the tech. A number of non-profits will accept both working and non-working technology.

These non-profits and charities will often give functional tech to low-income families, seniors, or community centers. They may repair and sell the tech to support their own ongoing causes.

Managing Your Old IT Equipment

You have several viable choices for managing your old IT equipment. For truly dead equipment, you can take it to an e-cycling service and call it a day.

For functional technology, though, you can often sell it to other businesses or even individuals. You can take advantage of trade-in programs to defray the cost of new computer equipment.

You can also donate the equipment to non-profits or charities that will sell it to support their missions or give it to individuals in need.

Looking for more business technology tips? Check out the posts over in our Biz and Tech sections.