6 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Buying IT Equipment

Investing in new technologies can be a game-changer for your business. It automates tasks to free up your staff for higher-value work, enhances your protection against online threats, and helps your company maintain a competitive edge. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t know how to buy IT equipment properly.

If your organization is one of these, it’s time to rethink your approach. This blog post will list several pitfalls your businesses must avoid when procuring IT equipment to ensure they drive long-term value. What’s more, we’ll talk about how Techmedics’ IT procurement service can simplify the procurement lifecycle.

Common IT Equipment Purchasing Mistakes You Must Prevent

1. Focusing Solely on the Sticker Price

When buying IT equipment, some businesses believe all they need to pay for is the upfront price. However, this is not the full story.

Many companies overlook the total cost of ownership (TCO), which involves all expenses associated with an IT asset throughout the entire lifecycle, extending beyond the initial purchase.

Ignoring TCO can lead to painful consequences down the line, such as:

• Unexpected expenses: These are hidden costs that appear after purchasing an IT asset.

• Budget overruns: Projects might exceed their allocated funds due to unanticipated expenses.

• Poor return on investment (ROI): The asset might cost more for the business than the value it provides.

• Operational headaches: These are unforeseen expenses for compatibility issues, training, or maintenance.

• Premature replacement/obsolescence: A business may have to replace equipment sooner than anticipated due to unpredicted costs or lack of scalability.

As such, always look beyond the initial price tag and factor in all potential future costs to get a true picture of an asset’s value. To learn how to identify and calculate these costs effectively, read our related post: 5 Handy IT Procurement Best Practices Your Business Must Implement.

2. Not Considering Compatibility

Let’s say your company relies heavily on a specific legacy application that only runs on Windows Server 2012 R2 or an older operating system (OS). If you purchase brand new servers that come with Windows Server 2022 and lack the necessary drivers or compatibility layers, the app will likely not run properly on the new hardware, essentially rendering the new servers useless.

Or maybe you buy new high-resolution monitors that have USB Type-C inputs, but your workstations can only output HDMI and DisplayPort. This means the monitors cannot connect directly to your computers and you need to purchase expensive adapters to make them work.

The lesson? Before purchasing IT equipment, make sure to assess their compatibility with your existing IT infrastructure. Here’s how:

• Conduct an inventory: Document all current hardware and software and note their specifications, current utilizations, and age. Understand as well your current security protocols, compliance requirements, and authentication methods.

• Define clear requirements: What specific business problem will the new equipment solve? What are the desired performance metrics? Can your existing equipment accommodate the new assets?

• Review manufacturer specifications: Read the technical specifications of the IT equipment you’re buying. Pay attention to compatibility with OSes, power and driver requirements, network standards, and physical dimensions.

• Perform a gap analysis: Compare the new equipment’s requirements against your existing infrastructure. Do the new the new devices have the right ports to connect to your existing systems? Is there enough rack space for new servers?

3. Underestimating Vendor Considerations

In the hopes to save money or accelerate deployment, some organizations might buy IT equipment from unverified sources like online marketplaces, liquidation resellers, or informal third-party vendors.

However, this practice comes with substantial risks, such as:

• No manufacturer warranty or support: Your equipment may not receive support from its manufacturer or distributor, making it harder to resolve technical issues.

• Invalid software licenses: Some applications purchased from unverified sources may have licenses purchased using stolen or hacked accounts. Using software with illegitimately obtained keys constitutes piracy and puts your business at risk of fines and lawsuits.

• Potential for counterfeit products: You may end up purchasing fake equipment, which can cause system instability, poor performance, or financial losses.

• Security vulnerabilities: The devices or software you purchase may come pre-loaded with malware, such as keyloggers, remote access trojans (RATs), or even ransomware.

To avoid these vulnerabilities, be sure to source IT equipment directly from manufacturers or authorized resellers. While doing so may cost more, it ensures you are buying a legitimate product with verified support and protects you from risks that could result in avoidable expenses or downtime in the future.

4. Skipping Extended Warranty

You may choose not to get an extended warranty for your car, but it’s a grave mistake to not opt for one for your IT equipment, especially the critical pieces. Here’s why:

• Unexpected repair/replacement costs: Let’s say one of your servers suddenly won’t turn on. Without an extended warranty, your business will need to substantial pay out-of-pocket for repairs or even full replacement as soon as the standard warranty expires.

• Lack of expert support: Without an extended warranty, your in-house IT support team is left to troubleshoot problems on their own or you will need to pay for costly third-party support.

• Risk of obsolescence: If you have older equipment, finding replacement parts after the standard warranty expires can be tricky.  

• Budget volatility: Financial planning may become more difficult if your business often pays for repairs due to equipment failures.

By getting an extended warranty, you have peace of mind knowing your equipment is supported for the long term. Your business is also entitled to a dedicated technical support team, ensuring IT issues are resolved promptly and minimizing downtime.

5. Failing to Consult End-users and IT Teams

Your end-users, which comprise your employees, department-specific users, contractors, and executives, are the ones who will frequently use the equipment your business will procure.  

On the other hand, your IT teams are knowledgeable about your technical landscape. They understand which equipment is compatible with your infrastructure, complies with your security standards, and seamlessly integrates into your ecosystem.

Without getting the input of these stakeholders, you risk buying equipment unsuitable for your employees’ actual tasks, resulting in frustration and reduced employee morale. You might also introduce unpatched systems, insecure configurations, or devices that don’t comply with industry regulations.

As such, always involve both end-users and your IT team during the procurement process. Know their specific needs, technical insights, and daily usage patterns. This way, you can ensure your chosen equipment keeps them productive and efficient, and meets operational needs.

6. Ignoring Cybersecurity and Compliance Requirements

Given the growing sophistication of cybercrime these days, your business can’t just focus on an IT equipment’s basic functionalities during procurement. You must also factor in how it protects your data and systems from threats and how well it complies with relevant industry regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and SOC 2.

For instance, make sure the equipment encrypts your data at rest and in transit and supports security solutions like passkeys, multifactor authentication, and role-based access controls. Also, check how often the equipment vendor patches vulnerabilities and releases security updates. Finally, see if you can request compliance certifications, data sheets, and audit reports from the manufacturer.

Failing to consider security and compliance requirements puts your organization at risk of data breaches, non-compliance penalties and fines, legal liabilities, and reputational damage.

Let Techmedics Make IT Procurement Easier

Want to ensure you don’t make these mistakes when buying IT equipment? Techmedics is here for you. If you’re currently leveraging our managed services, we can provide the following IT procurement services for you:

• Hardware sourcing: Procuring desktops, laptops, servers, networking equipment, and peripherals.

• Software sourcing & licensing: Purchasing software, identifying underutilized licenses, and frequently monitoring software to remain audit-ready.

• Warranty & service level agreement (SLA) management: Aligning warranty coverage with business needs and defining service expectations.

• Lifecycle management & asset tracking: Overseeing assets from purchase to deployment to retirement.

• Bulk & volume pricing management: Purchasing larger quantities of hardware and software to secure better pricing.

Our team of tech procurement specialists understands your existing environment, goals, and budget constraints to help you identify the best solutions. We then vet potential suppliers who can provide the best value, compare contracts, and ensure timely equipment deployment. The best part? We monitor asset performance and provide support even after systems go live.

Buying the right IT tools and solutions for your business shouldn’t be difficult. Talk to our experts today for a risk-free consultation.

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