Most organisations know their IT kit has a lifespan. Fewer actually track it.
Devices get added to the books, depreciated over five to seven years for accounting purposes, and largely forgotten until something breaks or a refresh project lands on the agenda. The problem is that the 5–7 year depreciation window is an accounting convention, not an IT recommendation. By the time the books say a device is due for replacement, it may have been creating real operational and security problems for years.
The cost of doing nothing
Ageing hardware slows people down, as well as accumulating risk in ways that are easy to ignore until they’re not.
Maintenance costs start compounding around year three. By year five, keeping older infrastructure running typically demands significantly more spend than in its early life — and that’s before you factor in the productivity drag on the people using it. Legacy hardware runs more slowly, integrates poorly with current software, and demands more from IT teams dealing with urgent fixes rather than strategic work.
The security picture is more concerning still. According to research from the Ponemon Institute and ServiceNow:
60% of data breaches are linked to known vulnerabilities where a patch was available but never applied.
End-of-life devices are disproportionately exposed to this — they’re often running software that no longer receives security updates, and decommissioning them doesn’t automatically resolve the problem either. Data remnants on retired hardware remain a primary vector for breaches, which is why certified data destruction is a non-negotiable part of any responsible disposal process.
Then there’s the issue of hidden assets — devices that exist in the estate but aren’t actively tracked. What you don’t know about, you can’t protect or dispose of properly.
The gap between accounting and IT
The 5–7 year depreciation window exists because it’s a reasonable way to spread the cost of an asset on a balance sheet. It has nothing to do with how quickly performance degrades, how soon security risks begin to accumulate, or when resale value starts to fall off a cliff.
This is where planned refresh cycles make a real difference. Resale value is highest when devices retire on schedule rather than at the point of failure. A device that’s been well-maintained and disposed of at the right time returns meaningful value to the business. One that’s been run into the ground and disposed of reactively returns very little — and often creates compliance headaches on the way out.
The case for a structured approach
Businesses that treat IT refresh as a planned, cyclical process rather than a reactive one tend to come out ahead on every metric: cost, security, compliance, and environmental impact.
Here’s what a structured approach looks like in practice:
- Audit your full IT estate first — including warranty status, end-of-life dates, undocumented assets, and software update status. You can’t plan what you can’t see.
- Plan refresh cycles by asset class rather than by department or budget cycle. Different device types have different optimal lifecycles, and aligning disposal to those windows maximises both resale value and security posture.
- Run procurement and disposition in parallel. Engaging an ITAD partner at the same time as planning incoming procurement means the value recovered from outgoing devices can offset the cost of replacements.
- Ensure certified data destruction happens before any asset leaves the business — whether it’s being resold, recycled, or scrapped. This needs to be documented, with certificates issued for every data-bearing device.
- Close the loop on ESG reporting. Every device that’s refurbished rather than sent to landfill represents a measurable carbon saving. A refurbished laptop saves approximately 225kg CO₂e compared to buying new — a 75% reduction in carbon footprint per device. If your organisation has sustainability reporting obligations, the data from a well-managed disposal process feeds directly into that.
Where Tier1 comes in
Tier1 has been managing IT asset lifecycles since 1995. We work with enterprise organisations to plan and execute structured refresh cycles — handling everything from secure collection and certified data destruction through to asset grading, remarketing, and detailed reporting.
Our BSI Kitemark™ certified refurbishment process means devices that still have useful life can be remanufactured to a verified standard, either for redeployment within your organisation or resale through our multi-channel remarketing network. And because we handle the full process in-house, there are no gaps in the chain of custody and no surprises on the audit trail.
If your IT estate is heading into a new financial year with ageing hardware on the books, now is the right time to have that conversation.
Get in touch with us today to discuss your IT asset lifecycle.
