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THE CORPORATE PC REFRESH PROJECT:OPTIMIZING REFRESH CYCLES &ENSURING DATA INTEGRITYWHITE PAPERwww.cibecs.com

Table ofContentsCibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project0102030405060708PC REFRESH PROJECTS: DETERMININGLIFECYCLESTHE BASIC CASE FOR PC REFRESH CYCLESHOW OLD IS TOO OLD- AND WHEN SHOULD YOUREFRESH?USING TCO TO DETERMINE THE IDEALENTERPRISE PC REFRESH CYCLETHE CHALLENGES OF A REFRESH PROJECTWHY CONSIDER ENDPOINT DATA BACKUPSOFTWARE FOR PC REPLACEMENTFORMULATING A PC REFRESH PLANBEFORE YOU BEGIN A CORPORATE PC REFRESHPROJECT: BASIC CHECKLIST09WHAT ABOUT THE OLD HARDWARE?10CONCLUSION2

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project01EXECUTIVE SUMMARYOPTIMIZING THE CORPORATE PC REFRESH CYCLE:DETERMINING LIFECYCLES, FORMULATING A PLAN ANDENSURING DATA INTEGRITY}It is commonly reported that while extending thecorporate PC lifecycle might initially trim IT costs andcapital expenditure, the result of old and outdatedsystems in an enterprise is increased support andmaintenance costs, interrupted productivity andnegatively affected organizational operations.With these realities in mind, this white paper will helpIT decision makers answer these common questions:What is the optimum PC refresh cycle, and what arethe optimum refresh methods that will help usWith the general economic upturn in 2011 and theincreasing requirements for Windows 7 upgrades,corporate PC refresh projects are again a routineand crucial part of IT operations. However, costsaving and efficiency are still obvious considerations,especially while budgets remain relatively restrictive. Minimize the impact on user productivity Reduce costs Ensure data integrity3

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project02WHAT DRIVES PC REFRESH CYCLES?As IT organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs, many companiesmay choose to delay their PC refresh project to decrease the frequency ofspending for PC hardware. However, research results validate time and again thatdelaying PC refresh cycle increases support costs and reduces user productivity.SUPPORT & MAINTENANCE COSTSSECURING DATA INTEGRITYKeeping old PC’s will eventually incur increased support& maintenance costs. Research has shown that olderPC’s can cost up to 59% more to support. 1 As PC’sage, their support cost increases. Warranties end andnew software can face compatibility problems with oldermachines. Users have often accumulated software anddata on the old computer, making it slower and moresusceptible to failure. It is also important to note thatolder machines might not have the processor speed oravailable RAM to run new software.Older PC’s are more likely to experience failures. Withoutan effective and reliable data backup solution that backsup the data on user PC’s an enterprise risks failure tomeet compliance regulations as well as incurring databreeches and data loss.IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITYOlder PC’s can negatively affect productivity causinguser downtime and wasted IT resources because ofincreased failures and thus more support sts/pc-refresh.index.htmINFLATED POWER COSTSOlder PC’s are generally not as environmentallyfriendly as newer machines, requiring more energyand offering less power saving functionality. Accordingto an Intel study, older PC’s can use an average of 50%more energy. 24

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project03HOW OLD IS TOO OLD - AND WHENSHOULD YOU REFRESH?There is no single refresh model that suits all enterprises or even all users within anenterprise. PC lifecycle often depends on the usage of the PC, application softwarerequirements, length of manufacturer warranties, requirements for increasedprocessor speed and memory, and many other variables.However, industry standard generally accepts thatthe majority of company PC’s are four or moreyears old. 3 The rapid evolution of technology, theincreasing importance of hardware that allows foroptimum productivity and new software applicationsthat demand faster processor and memory mean thatoverextending hardware life can be detrimental toorganizations.There are two general approaches to refreshing yourcompany laptops & desktops:REPLACING ALL DEVICES- THE‘FORKLIFT’ APPROACH:Proactively decommissioning desktops and laptopsand replacing them with new hardware.PARTIAL REFRESH OR CASCADINGMACHINES:‘Cascading’ the older machines by moving them downthrough the ranks and only replacing them only afterserious failure.When analyzing the appropriate PC refresh cycle foryour organization it has been found that “the majorityof organizations will spend more on desktops if theystandardize on a four-to-five year refresh cycle thanwith a three-year refresh cycle.” 4“In order to accurately assess current PC ownershipand management costs, Wipro analysts gathereddetailed data from 106 firms in North America andEurope including representation from 15 differentindustries. Each firm had a minimum of 2,500 PCs,of which at least 25% were laptops. The firms allmanaged elements of PC support with internal ITstaff.The data shows that for most firms, the optimal PCrefresh lifecycle for both laptop and desktop PCs isthree years.” 5Without a clear and formalized refresh plan in place,enterprises continually face unpredictable hardwaredifficulties that, overburden IT.To avoid lump-sum hardware costs, companiesoften refresh only a portion of their PCs at one time.Delaying the PC refresh can lead to higher supportand productivity costs, and staggered refreshes canresult in higher deployment costs for companies thatoutsource their IT common/download.aspx?name PC Refresh Case Study.pdfFriedlander, D. (2003, September 29) IdeaByte: Desktop Refresh Cycles: Three years is the standard, but not the b/en/Documents/Using-TCO.pdf5

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project03}WHEN SHOULDYOU REFRESHREFRESHING FORWINDOWS 7It’s important to note that when PCrefresh rate increases, support requests decrease.The California State University, Chico DesktopRefresh Plan illustrates that when their refresh planwas temporarily halted to due a lack of funding,service requests spiked significantly showing thatdelaying hardware refresh will result in increasedsupport & maintenance costs. 6When a business holds onto a computer for solong that it adds no capital value, it’s probablynot going to sustain an OS upgrade.There are often financial factors influencing andlengthening the refresh cycle rate.Examples of these are: Acquisition and deployment costs Salvage value Disposal costsA large percentage of enterprises are seeing theimportance of upgrading to Windows 7, withsome of the reasons being- Improved employee productivity- Improved manageability & security- To better deliver IT Cost efficienciesAs a result, PC refresh may be moved forward byIT managers wanting to do a wholesale switch toWindows 7.While increases in the following factors couldshorten the refresh cycle: Baseline support costs Baseline support cost growth rate Out-of-warranty costsAs there is no basic model for all organizations,determining the ideal refresh cycle for an enterpriseinvolves evaluating how to trim IT costs whilstmaintaining an effective operation. As discussed,delaying refresh cycles to put off capital expenditureand other costs doesn’t always optimize long-termcash flow.Meeting operational objectives should causeenterprises to closely examine the total cost ofownership of their PC’s and find the point wherekeeping the old hardware will diminish returns.When do rising support costs eclipse the savings ofmaking a PC purchase last as long as possible? Asound TCO analysis will help legitimize these /perfo a new OS,equipment and applications must be performed.IT can also employ new tools and technology to tacklepotential migration problems.What is key during a refresh project is nondisruptiveness and controlling the impact on:UsersNetwork & BandwidthITData integrity11PROPER DISPOSAL OF HARDWARE:Properly discarding old PCs has legal andenvironmental implications. Software must beremoved, company confidential data must bescrubbed and certain components must bediscarded in compliance with standards andindustry regulations.

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project06WHY CONSIDER ENDPOINTDATA BACKUP SOFTWARE FORPC REPLACEMENT01/03/REDUCE DATA MIGRATION RISKS IT can easily locate and backup critical datastored in non-standard locations on laptops anddesktops, reducing the risk of not migrating allbusiness critical data.MINIMIZE IMPACT ON INFRASTRUCTUREDURING MIGRATION Central control over backup policies preventsunnecessary bandwidth and storage wastage causedby the migration and backup of unessential user data. Data is compressed, preventing inflated operationalcosts and lowering impact on the network by reducingbandwidth usage. Data can be restored on new hardware in the originallocation- saving time and avoiding increased ITsupport requests and interrupted productivity. Overcome incompatibilities between operatingsystems when migrating shortcuts such as MyDocuments and the user’s Desktop. Ensuring that Microsoft Outlook archived email storedon user computers is easily migrated.02/REDUCE EXTENDED USER DOWNTIME Business data on laptops & desktops is automaticallybacked up and available for recovery, simplifying therefresh process. Simplified recovery to new computers reducing timerequired by technical resources.04/CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND REPORTING User data is encrypted, aiding with corporategovernance compliance and ensuring confidentiality ofbusiness data during migration. Centralized reporting provides an audit trail of themigration process.12

Cibecs White PaperThe Corporate PC Refresh Project07FORMULATING A PCREFRESH PLANA carefully formulated plan is integral before embarking on any in-house PCrefresh project.HERE ARE SOME KEY ITEMS YOU WOULD WANT TOADDRESS IN YOUR PLAN:SOME INITIAL QUESTIONS YOU MAY WANT TOASK IN THESE MEETINGS:1.Create a list of any foreseeable challenges ortechnical difficulties. Review these and strategizearound the most cost and time effective solutions. Are there any plans for expansion, restructuring orconsolidation?2.Put together a schedule with timelines & milestones forthe migration procedures. Could we consider implementing new software thatwill effectively save us time & money in therefresh process? When is the optimal time for the refresh process totake place with the least effect on users?3.Establish a pre-refresh test plan that you will performon a PC refresh pilot group. Is the project big enough that it requiresoutsourcing a professional service?4.Ensure you have considered & investigated effectivesoftware options or managed services solutionsthat can help with saving time, saving resources andreducing bandwidth and storage costs & pressure.It is important to consider how disruptive certainapplications will be, communicate any possibleperformance delays to management and ensure thatyour strategy includes processes or features thatprotect business data integrity.5.Schedule meetings in advance with management andbudget decision makers. Have an agenda ready withany unknowns you need the answer to.13