4 Signs You’re Ready for a Device Refresh

Humans inherently like to get the absolute most out of any investment, whether it’s running the petrol tank for days on the empty light, wearing those old and raggedy runners for a month or two too long, or refusing to upgrade the toaster even though it short fuses the house from time to time. We all try to stretch certain things longer than is probably necessary.

And it’s no different when it comes to device refreshes for your business. If it still turns on and enables people to work than why refresh right?

Wrong.

End user devices are your business’s productivity vehicles and there are many tell-tale signs you can look for to help you assess if you’re in need of a refresh. In this blog we explore four signs that you’re ready for a device refresh.

1. Productivity and user experience is waning

2020 saw the world of work transform almost entirely overnight. Office spaces were left desolate while workers’ ability to juggle a full house and work commitments quickly became the year’s unofficial juggling act. The migration to remote work forced many organisations to look at their technology strategy, and in particular, ability to maintain productivity with a geographically dispersed workforce. Devices were key and widespread adoption of laptops significantly increased.

To ensure your staff have the right devices to work optimally, there are several questions you can ask yourself:

• Are my team’s devices suited to their roles?
• Are the devices we use powerful enough to execute particular tasks?
• Do my team’s devices enable work from anywhere, at anytime?
• Is collaboration between staff easy and streamlined?
• Do my team’s devices cause any downtime due to poor performance or capability limitations?
• Do my staff enjoy a good user experience?

2. Security vulnerabilities are increasing

A far cry from ground-breaking news, but imperatively important, nonetheless. The world of cyber security continues to grow exponentially. Threats and the actors behind them are growing increasingly sophisticated with the advancement of AI and machine learning technologies, and end user devices are widely regarded as the first line of entry. And therefore, your first line of defence. Thankfully, you can leverage those same technologies to bolster your defences.

To ensure your team’s devices are equipped to deal with wide world of cyber threats, here are several questions you can ask yourself:

• Are my devices up to date with the latest security patches?
• Can my devices identify and protect against new and known threats?
• Is the data on my devices encrypted in the event of loss or theft?
• Can I remotely wipe a device in the event of loss or theft?
• Do my devices have multi-factor authentication?
• Are my devices protected at the BIOS level?

Stott Hoare is a proud partner of HP, who’s portfolio of devices powered by Intel^® deliver hardware enforced security tools designed to address such questions. HP Sure Click warns users before clicking on potentially malicious links, HP BIOSphere protects at the devices very core, while HP Sure Sense evolves over time leveraging machine learning to protect against growing threats in real-time.

3. Mixed fleet of devices with varying operating systems at different lifecycles

The saying ‘time is of the essence’ grows more fitting by the day, and perhaps no more fitting than when considering ICT teams. Tasked with managing increasingly complex ICT ecosystems that span on-premise, the cloud, and now the Edge, ICT teams have never been more important to a business’s success. But they’ve also never been busier, there’s never been more devices to manage than now, and the threat landscape has never been more prevalent than now. As such, simplifying as many day-to-day tasks as possible and automating where possible should be a key focus for every organisation moving forward. And one of the easiest elements to start with is device management.

By implementing a device strategy that focuses on simplification you can alleviate some much-needed administration tasks for your IT team while also giving your staff the right devices for the job. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How many different vendors do we currently have in our device fleet?
• How many different operating systems are we currently using?
• What are the current lifecycles of our device fleet?
• How do we currently maintain updates and security patches?
• If a device needs repairs or troubleshooting, what is the process?
• Procurement strategy is ad-hoc and time-intensive

2020 taught us the power of agility. When everyone was forced to work from home, there were organisations across the country scrambling to put the necessary devices in users’ hands to maintain business continuity. The organisations that had streamlined procurement and deployment already in place benefitted the most, with users’ getting devices shipped directly to their doors within days, ready to work straight out of the box. However, many that were running on an ad-hoc model struggled to pivot quickly enough had to wait days and, in some cases, even weeks before their staff had the necessary tools to get back to work.

You never know what tomorrow will bring and because of this, procurement and deployment should be a streamlined process that doesn’t result in unnecessary downtime. To ascertain if your current strategy is up to the demand, ask yourself the following:

• What is the current process for procuring new devices?
• Is our current process enable 24-48 deployment from time of order placement?
• Can we currently track deployment ETAs?
• Does our internal ICT team currently handle the imaging, configuration, and deployment of new devices?
• Does our current supplier always have stock on hand in the case of an emergency?

After assessing the four signs outlined in this piece, how do you rate your current device strategy maturity?

We understand it’s not an easy thing to wrap your head around and of course there is no silver bullet for the perfect approach. But if you need to drive better productivity and user experience, improve your cyber security measures in a changing workplace, simplify the management and orientation of your device fleet, and streamline technology procurement and deployment…

Then a device refresh is a good place to start.

Stott Hoare in partnership with HP and Intel^® offers a complete range of products and services to help your business address demands of a changing workplace.

We believe that choosing the right technology should be a tactile and consultative experience where the needs of the end-user are at the heart of delivering positive business and organisational outcomes. There has never been a more crucial time to give your business the competitive edge and your team the right tools for success.

To best assist with your decision, we have transformed the IT procurement process by developing a unique Experience Centre at our Osborne Park offices where visitors can pick the brains of our experts while getting up close and hands-on with the technologies designed to help your users thrive in the amid the new landscape.

Contact Stott Hoare to arrange a visit to our Customer Experience Centre and get up close and hands on with HP’s portfolio of devices powered by Intel^®, the industry’s most secure business notebooks.