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Equipment Lifecycle Management
Within the South African market, I.T. companies have long since struggled in the losing battle against I.T budgets versus
functionality, let alone ‘state-of-the-art’ I.T equipment. It would seem that the philosophy often adopted is “Look after the
pennies and the pounds look after themselves” however there is a rather fine line that gets crossed when discussing I.T that
spins this on its head and one ends up with “Penny wise, pound foolish”
This subject has long since been at the heart of consideration within the US, below are some extracts taken from the Public Act
in the US underlining the care taken to ensure that an I.T Infrastructure is an integral part of business strategy
Public Act 327 of 2004 Sec. 579:
Industry Lifecycle Practices
- PC hardware: 40% of companies are on a 4-year cycle, 30% are on a 3-year cycle, and 30% are on other (longer) cycles.
Experts favour a four-year cycle. Longer cycles may leave hardware out of warranty and unsupported, sub-optimize worker
productivity, or present budget problems (e.g. when external events create a need for wider change).
- PC software (operating systems and utilities): Upgrade operating systems strategically, i.e., based on advantages/risks
presented by the upgrade, not with every new Windows operating system (OS) release.
- Number of vendors (Dell, HP, Apple, etc.) supporting the organization: Typically, one vendor for each segment of a
computer fleet; e.g., Company ‘A’ for desktops. This practice provides vendors with pricing incentives.
- Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has indicated that they do not have an official refresh or life-cycle policy,
but they do have a goal of a three year refresh schedule for desktop replacement.
- The Governmental Accounting Office (GAO) stated that they do not have an official position, but the common federal practice
that they have observed informally among agencies is a three-year replacement goal.
Security Issues
Six major security issues support shorter life cycle replacement times for desktop personal computers:
- Outdated hardware systems are vulnerable to attacks at sign-on.
- Older systems don't have adequate locking and password functions.
- Security fixes and vulnerability patches are often no longer available for older systems.
- Older operating systems often don't contain the necessary tools to identify and remedy system compromises.
- The risk of system compromise via Instant Messaging attacks is greater with outdated equipment.
- The overall security risk for older systems is increased due to a lack of available technical support and defensive measures.
Adopting the same philosophy within your own company simply places your I.T. infrastructure above the norm, an advantage in
efficiency that is usually overlooked and is often sorely missed.
To follow on further with the final step within the AnP service cycle:
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