Werner Joubert | Director | Commercial SYS Business | South Africa & SADC | Asus | mail me |
South African businesses are not in the habit of replacing their hardware every year, nor should they be. While IT has evolved into a much more critical component of the modern enterprise, most businesses still have to reconcile their infrastructure needs with the capital they can allocate to it.
IT spending may be growing worldwide because of AI-related demand. However, local businesses are also dealing with growing costs. Supply chain squeezes, a volatile currency exchange rate and challenging market conditions all contribute to this pressure. Additionally, cloud infrastructure costs face increasing pressure. Therefore, enterprises that rely on cloud computing within their technology stacks need to account for rising ongoing service costs.
The focus then falls on the value businesses extract from their IT hardware, specifically over the long term. They need to revise their technology and IT strategies to accommodate a broader view of their investments. They must also prioritise purpose-built hardware. That means enterprise-grade PC solutions, as well as compelling features and design principles. When prices go up, the goal is to keep costs down. A good place to start is with the equipment powering your enterprise.
Consumer vs commercial – it matters what PC you own
Purpose-built may sound like a generic phrase. In truth, it has real implications. For example, compare a high-end consumer laptop with an enterprise laptop. Both may seem identical on paper. They may have equivalent performance levels, memory capacities and display resolutions. However, the design and engineering principles behind them differ. Manufacturers build them for different use cases.
Placed side by side, the distinction is clear. Consumer devices prioritise retail appeal. They follow shorter design cycles and cater to a broader user base. In contrast, commercial devices prioritise long-term operational stability, remote manageability and platform continuity. These features help businesses optimally run enterprise applications and workloads.
Businesses may need to purchase and deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of devices. These devices must run software that remains compatible and consistent across each one. They also need to remain secure. Each device represents a network endpoint that businesses can remotely manage and isolate during a security incident.
To be clear, this is not a roundabout way of saying businesses always need to spend capital on expensive, do-it-all enterprise PCs for their entire organisations. Different use cases determine the kind of PC and capabilities businesses need to invest in. Employees with day-to-day office functions have different requirements from professionals with intensive digital workloads. This also helps businesses determine what they can afford now and in the future. That last part is important. It is where the true cost of ownership begins to show itself.
What ‘at all costs’ really means
Calculating the cost of owning an enterprise PC does not begin with the purchase. It also does not end with how well businesses use it day by day. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for technology requires businesses to consider several factors. They need to assess how that technology meets or exceeds their usage requirements. They must also consider how it reduces risk and the effort required to keep it operational.
This is critical because research in other markets shows that IT decision-makers face more complex purchasing processes. This complexity is particularly evident when they purchase commercial hardware. At the same time, decision-makers are placing greater focus on the sustainability of that hardware. Therefore, TCO calculations become even more important.
To calculate TCO and determine when it is eventually time to upgrade, South African businesses should ask themselves the following questions:
- Downtime costs – how does this product failing impact my revenue or productivity levels?
- Reliability and service history – how much does it cost to keep this product going?
- Security and compliance – is this product a risk to my employees, operations or infrastructure?
- Refresh cycles – how can I extend this product’s lifespan? Could it still be suitable for handling less intense workloads?
By considering these factors, businesses can answer whether their hardware delivers value. More critically, they can determine when it stops being an asset and turns into a liability. This assessment can also help them plan timely upgrades before ageing equipment creates unnecessary operational risks.
IT prioritises for every business – grow, adapt, and stay ahead
Given how the price of PC hardware has surged in the last few months, IT spending has become an even greater priority for businesses, big and small. Some businesses may be upgrading now to avoid further price shocks. Others are restructuring their refresh cycles to extend device longevity.
One way to successfully do the latter is by prioritising devices with modular design features. Businesses can also choose devices that they can upgrade over time to accommodate evolving use cases.
Regardless, the focus now extends beyond doing more with less. Businesses must also make the most of what they already have. That mindset will define IT procurement for the foreseeable future. The changes it brings are already happening.
By investing in purpose-built PC solutions for lasting ownership value, businesses can prepare for inevitable technological advancements. They can also use timely upgrades to manage changing requirements without unnecessarily replacing entire systems. In this way, businesses can invest in the digital future we see for ourselves.
