Investing and ongoing costs

No matter the size of a business; investing in the right IT equipment that will not only do the job it needs to do efficiently but will also provide the computing power your business needs for an acceptable length of time can become costly.

On average, IT equipment equates to around 20% of new businesses start-up costs, which is a hefty chunk of the budget needed to get a business off the ground.

Even after the initial investment in your IT infrastructure you may then need to make further investments, periodically, for upgrades to keep up with the rapid pace of IT development; replacements for failing or obsolete hardware, for the cost of servicing and repairing the equipment, your organisation may need a platform that your existing hardware does not support… the list goes on!

With computing being pretty much ubiquitous within modern business, it can be much more cost-effective to lease the equipment rather than purchasing outright. There are many advantages to doing this, and indeed, it’s not always best to own a thing; certainly not if it will be behind the curve or obsolete in a matter of years or even months.

So what’s the cost?

The initial investment required to lease IT equipment, such as laptops, PC’s, servers, printers and even keyboards and mice, can be minimal or even non-existent, with the cost being spread over the course of the contract.

Not only is the initial investment minimised but, more often than not, the cost to repair or replace broken, damaged or obsolete equipment as well as regular servicing of the equipment to ensure it is still performing optimally is absorbed within the monthly, quarterly or annual contract costs.

So, you have no added or unexpected charges relating to the maintenance of your servers or IT infrastructure and computers because they form part of the lease agreement between you and your IT leasing company.

And, once the lease agreement comes to an end you have the option to swap the existing equipment for newer, which most often means improved, equipment!

But how long should I lease for?

Hire or lease contracts can vary in length and, whatever your needs, you can likely find a lease agreement to suit.

You may have a short-term project coming up that requires the use of multiple high-powered desktop workstations, or laptops, but the cost to purchase them outright may not be justifiable for the short space of time they’ll be needed. In this scenario, it would be much more cost-effective to hire the extra required items on a short-term hire contract and merely return them once the project has completed, after erasing all the data on them first, of course! 

In other cases, as in the start-up of a new business, you may require a full hardware stack, Local Area Network cabling, Wireless Access Point’s, Routers, Firewalls, multiple desktop PC’s, monitors, keyboard and mouse set-ups, along with large standing office multifunction printer installations, which, to purchase outright, could cost tens of thousands of pounds, depending on the required number of units, size of the server or storage, specification of the hardware and the space in which the networking requires installation. That’s not even taking into account racking units for storage and safe operation of large equipment, for larger enterprises.

In this situation, it could be much more beneficial and cost-effective to obtain a long-term lease agreement for the equipment, that would include a service, and repair or replace package on an annual renewal basis.

This way, the cost of your IT infrastructure is spread out over a much longer period. A maintenance plan is taken care of, and you have that extra peace-of-mind knowing that, should anything go wrong, you won’t be caught out by a large repair bill or the cost of replacement for expensive equipment; the lease company will provide all of this as part of their agreement with you.

What’s more, if you like the equipment you’ve been leasing and want to add it to your company’s assets, most lease agreements offer end of rental/lease purchase options.

And, even better, you know what to pay and when, making it much easier to include and account for in your company budgets.

Working from home

Let’s get real for a minute.

In the current climate it makes much better business sense to enable your workers (those that can, at least) to work from home.

However, this can turn into an extremely costly exercise if you plan on purchasing the equipment they need.

You’ll need to raise the funds to purchase laptop computers, keyboards, mice, any ergonomic arrangements they require as part of their workplace rights, access to the company network via a VPN, possibly phone lines linked to their IT equipment along with the possibility of having to provide them with desks or sit-stand units, the list goes on!

And, in these uncertain times, who knows how long this arrangement may be required to continue?

Would it not make more sense to lease the equipment required by your staff to enable them to work from home as effectively as if they were in the office?

Especially if the hope is to get everyone back into the office when the argument for this becomes much more tenable?

Why spend thousands in one hit to get everyone set-up remotely and then worry about added costs if someone spills tea on their laptop at home, when you can pay a set monthly fee for the duration of working from home, and then return the equipment at the end of this period?

Additionally, many leasing companies will set up all of your equipment to the specification and software requirements needed to enable your staff to carry out their work, so you don’t need to worry about that part of it too.

You could also opt for a rolling contract, if applicable, meaning that once we are all out the other side of the current climate on back on safe, level ground again, you can give notice to terminate your lease agreement to cut your ongoing IT costs.

 

Peace of mind

Not only does leasing your IT equipment mean less of an initial outlay for your business but it can also offer you and your stakeholders much needed peace-of-mind in this climate, with the knowledge that remote working, equipment maintenance, repair and replacement, and set-up and installation can all be taken care of for you under one, affordable contract cost that you can plan and budget for accordingly.

 

Sounds like good business advice, right?

Obviously, making this kind of decision is solely dependent on your business and your unique requirements.

If you’re unsure of whether you would benefit from leasing your IT equipment or if purchasing it would be the best route to take, don’t worry.

Get in touch with PearceIT and we can talk you through your requirements, the benefits to each avenue along with the costs and work out which route would be best for you and your business.