While it may feel like the pandemic is over, the lingering effects on the IT supply chain continue to wreak havoc on businesses who plan on quickly updating their IT equipment.
How is the Supply Chain Shortage Affecting Businesses?
Chip shortages directly impact the cost of electronics and the time it takes to fulfill orders. Any organization with an IT department can expect two things:
- With chips harder to come by, they’ll be more expensive when they are available. In particular, the cost of hardware like servers and networking equipment are affected. This is fundamental supply/demand challenge that organizations will have keep in mind.
- You may not be able to rely on orders getting fulfilled as quickly and as thoroughly as they have in the past.
Planning much further ahead will be critical, as will finding new and different ways to meet your equipment need
Let’s review some of the best ways to avoid the impact of product shortages so you can keep your business up and running.
How You Can Mitigate the Effects of the IT Supply Chain Shortage
- Identify the Life Cycle of Your Technology Equipment: Start by identifying the life cycle of your technology equipment. Most laptops are only suitable for work purposes for 3-4 years, while network equipment may only need to be replaced every 4-6 years. It’s critical to take this into account and document each device’s expected lifespan.
- Stay Organized: Create a spreadsheet with each device and its expected replacement date. Try to budget now for what you may be replacing next year. Planning months and even years ahead for replacement is important if you want to avoid rushed orders, increased prices, excessive downtime and delayed shipments.
- Get a Handle on the Overall Health of Your Network: Trusted partners like Kyber Security can perform full network assessments to help you make better decisions about where to invest and what to prioritize in an environment of scarce resources.
- Create Efficiencies: Seek out ways to save operational costs so you can redeploy those budget dollars elsewhere or invest for the future. For instance, you could sell your used IT equipment to the secondary market.
- Ensure Your Equipment is Under Warranty: Whether or not you care for warranties in your personal life, when it comes to your business, they are a must. Warranties ensure that replacement parts are available for devices during an agreed upon period of time. Organizations should consider standardizing as much as possible, particularly when dealing with multiple devices like laptops or wireless access points. Creating similar configurations across your organization can help streamline the rollout and maintenance of these devices. This can save time while allowing for a more consistent experience.
- Keep spare equipment on Hand: If your organization relies heavily upon the availably of its computer resources, consider keeping spare equipment on hand. Having a spare switch, laptop, or even wireless access point for the time when you need it in a hurry can be critical in times of need during the supply chain shortage.
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We know how important reliability, security, and cost are to you. That’s why we deliver for our clients every single time. If you need a partner you can trust to navigate this IT equipment supply chain crisis and meet your business goals, let’s connect