Bulk-Purchasing Laptops? Cut Tech Depreciation Costs with Device Lifecycle Management

Purchasing laptops in large quantities allows you to take advantage of economies of scale. Which means you pay less per laptop than buying single units. So, even if you have no hiring plans now, you may choose to buy in bulk to take advantage of discounted rates.

However, the longer a device sits on a shelf, the more it depreciates. So there comes a point when the cost of depreciation cancels out the savings from buying in bulk. This might happen much earlier in a device’s lifecycle than you’d expect.

Moreover, as new models with better specifications are released, outdated technology becomes less desirable. Talent will require new models with the latest device features to perform well.

Additionally, bulk purchases lead to logistical challenges, such as storing, managing, and maintaining the inventory over time. This further reduces the financial benefits gained from bulk buying.

What is tech depreciation? (And how does it affect your business)

Businesses need various tech assets to carry out daily operations. When a company buys a long-term asset, it records it in the books of accounts in the year of acquisition.

However, the value of this asset depreciates over time due to factors like wear and tear, technological advancements, and market demand.

Simply put, depreciation reduces an asset’s value as it is used over time. And each year, you can deduct a portion of that decrease as an expense for your taxes.

Understanding equipment depreciation is crucial because it impacts your company’s financial statements. Depreciation appears as an expense on the income statement, which can impact net income and tax obligations.

By tracking and recording depreciation, businesses can ensure the accuracy of their financial statements. This accuracy is important for investors, lenders, and other stakeholders.

Understanding depreciation also helps you plan for the future. It gives you precise estimates of when a piece of equipment will need replacing and what those replacements might cost.

This information is valuable for budgeting and forecasting, helping you reduce operational expenses.

What is the depreciation rate for laptops?

Over the course of a laptop’s productive lifespan, also known as its useful life, which is the period of time your organization considers it to be productive (typically 3-4 years for laptops), the asset will continue to drop in value until it’s a complete write-off.

A common depreciation rate for tech assets is 25%. This rate can be applied using the straight-line method. For example, if a laptop costs $1,000, it would lose $250 in value each year.

Alternatively, you can use the reducing balance method, which also has a 25% rate. With this method, in the first year, a $1000 laptop loses 25% of its value, bringing down its value to $750. In the second year, you take 25% off this new value of $750, which is $187.50. This makes the laptop worth $562.50 now.

This process keeps going each year. In the third year, you calculate 25% of the new value of $562.50 to find out how much more the value drops.

The cost of these assets isn’t cheap, so it’s essential to make the most of them before they depreciate. That’s where device lifecycle management (DLM) solutions like Deel IT can help.

Device lifecycle management is the process of managing a company’s devices from the moment they are purchased to the moment they are retired.

5 ways to cut tech depreciation costs with device lifecycle management

Here are five ways your organization can cut tech depreciation costs and streamline device lifecycle management (DLM) with Deel IT.

1. Lease or buy from an always-in-stock catalog of tech equipment

Businesses often purchase devices in bulk to make sure they have the necessary devices available on hand. However, this results in hefty upfront costs, surplus inventory, and unnecessary storage costs. It is a difficult job to keep track of hundreds or thousands of laptops. Making sure they’re all accounted for and distributed is even harder.

Sourcing, storing, and deploying devices is a big task. You have to find couriers, fill out customs forms, and package everything up. This takes a lot of time, and it can be difficult to find the most cost-effective way to do it.

That’s where device lifecycle management comes in. DLM handles each stage of a company’s device from the moment it’s purchased to when it’s retired. This helps businesses streamline device management and lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO).

With Deel IT’s DLM solution, you don’t have to worry about sourcing or storing devices. Deel takes care of every part of IT equipment management.

With Deel IT, you can buy or lease a device. The always-in-stock catalog offers 400+ devices, which provides immediate stock availability, a wide range of options, reduced inventory costs, and protection against supply chain disruptions.

We also provide transparent pricing, so you won’t incur any hidden costs down the road. You only pay what you need. This flexibility lets businesses choose the devices and payment options that work best for them.

We ship devices to over 130 countries in less than 10 days, regardless of where your workers are located or what type of contract they have. Our service has a 99.5% success rate.

2. Reduce depreciation through device tracking

71% of HR professionals said at least one departing employee didn’t return company equipment like laptops or phones. This scenario is even more common with remote employees, who are 17% more likely to keep equipment than on-site employees.

These employees, on average, walk away with about $2,000 worth of company-owned equipment.

Moreover, the cost of losing a laptop goes beyond just buying a new one. Missing devices often hold sensitive data, putting companies at risk of security breaches and financial losses.

Companies need to consider expenses like finding the device, investigating the loss, dealing with data breaches, losing valuable ideas, lost work time, and legal or consulting fees. It can cost thousands to millions of dollars.

With device lifecycle management, you can track who has what device, its location, and its condition. You’ll also receive alerts for any unauthorized devices or activity. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual tracking and helps you maintain a clear record of all devices used by your remote workers.

With Deel IT’s device lifecycle management process, you can retrieve equipment when employees do not return it. When offboarding employees, we collect and store the devices, shipping them back to the local vendor, or redistributing them to other team members.

We handle the logistics. You can also track the location and status of your team’s devices in real time and initiate remote locking or wiping if you suspect they are compromised.

However, if you’ve already equipped your team prior to Deel, you can still use the Deel IT platform to manage existing tech. For this, you need our device handling service, which provides the same device lifecycle management support. It includes repairs, a loaner device if a laptop needs fixing, and logistical help, just like if you rented equipment from Deel IT.

By managing the device lifecycle—from storage to tracking and repairs—Deel IT helps extend device usability, lowering annual depreciation expenses.

By proactively tracking and asset managing, companies can lower the chance of equipment getting lost or misused, preserving both its physical value and the data it holds. This process reduces the frequency of replacement purchases, extends the devices’ useful life, and ultimately cuts down on overall tech depreciation costs.

3. Keep devices in top shape to extend the lifespan of your devices

It is important to monitor the condition of the devices procured and stored. This involves checking for any physical damage, battery health, or software issues that may arise from prolonged inactivity.

Periodic checks for software updates and security patches make sure that the operating system and applications are up to date. This helps mitigate any security risks and maintain performance.

However, keeping devices updated and fixing any issues manually is time-consuming and costly.

DLM helps IT teams set up and manage devices remotely through MDM platforms. This makes sure that remote employees always have secure, reliable devices, regardless of their location.

Businesses can also track device performance, apply security measures, and offer remote support. This reduces the risk of downtime or security issues, helping businesses maintain operational efficiency.

DLM also records all devices used by remote employees. This helps IT teams track device usage, schedule regular maintenance, and know when upgrades or replacements are needed. This organization is crucial for ensuring technology works properly for remote workers while staying compliant with data protection rules.

Deel IT helps businesses keep their devices secure, automatically updated, and running smoothly. This reduces security risks and ensures technology retains its value for longer. Thus, with Deel, your team can avoid repetitive tasks and have more time to focus on important work that helps grow the business.

4. Extend device life with reliable repair and warranty plans

Warranties are typically worth the investment, providing peace of mind. Most manufacturer warranties are one year. So, if you have an unused device for several months, you are eating into the warranty.

Let’s say you give a stored device to a user nine months after the warranty starts. It will only be covered for the first three months of use, and the remaining warranty period is no longer valid.

This means there’s a good chance any repairs needed will fall outside the warranty. In that case, you’ll need to extend the warranty or pay more to resolve the issue. However, extended warranties can often be expensive, sometimes costing as much or even more than the laptop itself.

The extended warranties often come with a list of exclusions and limitations, meaning they may not cover all potential issues. On-site support might also have limitations in response times or coverage areas.

Without proper device lifecycle management, you’ll spend more on support, repairs, and replacements than you planned.

When you lease equipment from Deel IT, it includes a premium warranty that fully covers the manufacturer’s warranty term.

In addition to standard warranty benefits, we provide on-demand lifetime device support, warranties, and loaner devices. This helps your remote team keep working without interruption while we repair the original device.

Deel IT tracks each asset, ensuring that employees fully use their devices while they’re under warranty and reducing the risk of wasted coverage.

On average, IT support can cost your business between $100 and $200 per user per month (or more in certain areas). Deel IT offers free repair and maintenance to all customers. This helps companies control costs while accessing high-quality features that other vendors often limit to premium options.

Our priority is to give companies of any size an effortless global IT operation. We offer around-the-clock IT support to keep your teams productive.

5. Generate revenue through buyback and donation schemes

Ultimately, all devices will reach the end of their useful life. When this time comes, organizations must decide how they will dispose of them.

Proper disposal is a key part of DLM. It helps minimize waste and can generate revenue through recycling or repurposing devices.

With DLM, organizations can identify underutilized devices, allowing them to reallocate or decommission them. This reduces unnecessary expenditures on new devices and maximizes the return on investment (ROI).

Deel IT automatically identifies old devices and sells them back to manufacturers or third-party vendors. This not only recoups some costs but also makes sure responsible recycling practices are followed to minimize the environmental impact. For broken items, we recycle as much as possible to minimize landfill contributions and your carbon footprint.

In addition, Deel IT donates functional equipment to charities through partnerships with Globechain.

By adopting these practices, organizations can extend the useful life of their existing devices, identify devices suitable for reuse or donation, sell older devices at market value, and reduce the need for frequent new purchases.

Cut tech depreciation costs with Deel IT

Depreciation is an inevitable part of purchasing tech. But with the right device lifecycle management platform, you can make sure you get the most out of your investment.

Deel IT offers more than just equipment delivery. It manages the device lifecycle, including sourcing, setup, maintenance, repairs, and replacements. It simplifies global equipment ordering, management, offboarding, and compliance.

Deel IT helps your team stay productive by making it easy to track and ship equipment. It also makes sure your remote contractors and employees have everything they need to succeed.

Schedule a demo to learn more.