New Rage at Work: Used, Revamped IT Gear
[2008-12-23 17:03:34]
New Rage at Work: Used, Revamped IT Gear
Just off the 101, about nine miles north of San Jose, a section ofcomputer store Micro Center is lined with pristine white boxes. Inside are newly refurbishedDell ( DELL ) OptiPlex GX280s sporting Intel ( INTC ) Pentium 4 processors and 1 gigabit of RAM—all for a modest$299. When these desktop computers were introduced in 2004, theycost almost $800 and were considered a respectable corporate PC.Now, for a budget-conscious business owner who needs features likeMicrosoft ( MSFT ) Windows XP—but not a top-of-the-line machine—they'llstill do just fine.
Originally those Dell computers sat on the desktops of a largecorporation. They made their way to Micro Center through Redemtech , a company that takes old corporate computers, refurbishes them,and resells them. Companies like Redemtech are just starting to seean increase in business that will likely accelerate in comingmonths. As the credit squeeze and economic slowdown force companies into bankruptcy and cause others to merge or trimheadcount, many IT departments want to jettison surplus equipment.Other businesses are looking for gently used machines on the cheap."In the last couple weeks, we've seen a huge upsurge of peoplecontacting us with items they want to liquidate—a threefoldincrease," says Patrick Sutton, CEO of SoftBuyers, a firm thatpurchases used hardware and software before reselling it to othercompanies or simply recycling it. "It's becoming a prioritybecause of the downturn in the economy to supplement IT budgets orto simply generate revenue."
As alluring as it may be to save money on used equipment, would-bebuyers need to make sure they're purchasing from reputableresellers. Companies getting rid of computers need to ensure themachinery is wiped clean of data. Used High-End Gear, Too
By some estimates, the market for used computer networkingequipment alone is worth as much as $3 billion; that doesn'tinclude the market for PCs or servers. This so-called secondarymarket encompasses everything from used desktops and laptops to theservers that run Web sites and corporate networks. Some businesseseven opt for used versions of high-end gear, such as switches thatconnect computers, routers for linking multiple networks, and thehulking mainframe computers that support hundreds of users. "Therewill be a bunch of systems that will come out of downsizing orfailed companies," says Robert Houghton, president of Redemtech,one of the many providers that help corporations move large volumesof used equipment and determine whether it can be resold. Redemtechsends its best equipment to Micro Center for resale. Otherrefurbishers include Intechra and Network Hardware Resale . Even IT equipment manufacturers such as IBM ( IBM ), Dell , Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ ), and Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) play a role in helping refurbish used gear.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2008/tc2008113_685828.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+i [2008-11-4]
Tag : GearJust off the 101, about nine miles north of San Jose, a section ofcomputer store Micro Center is lined with pristine white boxes. Inside are newly refurbishedDell ( DELL ) OptiPlex GX280s sporting Intel ( INTC ) Pentium 4 processors and 1 gigabit of RAM—all for a modest$299. When these desktop computers were introduced in 2004, theycost almost $800 and were considered a respectable corporate PC.Now, for a budget-conscious business owner who needs features likeMicrosoft ( MSFT ) Windows XP—but not a top-of-the-line machine—they'llstill do just fine.
Originally those Dell computers sat on the desktops of a largecorporation. They made their way to Micro Center through Redemtech , a company that takes old corporate computers, refurbishes them,and resells them. Companies like Redemtech are just starting to seean increase in business that will likely accelerate in comingmonths. As the credit squeeze and economic slowdown force companies into bankruptcy and cause others to merge or trimheadcount, many IT departments want to jettison surplus equipment.Other businesses are looking for gently used machines on the cheap."In the last couple weeks, we've seen a huge upsurge of peoplecontacting us with items they want to liquidate—a threefoldincrease," says Patrick Sutton, CEO of SoftBuyers, a firm thatpurchases used hardware and software before reselling it to othercompanies or simply recycling it. "It's becoming a prioritybecause of the downturn in the economy to supplement IT budgets orto simply generate revenue."
As alluring as it may be to save money on used equipment, would-bebuyers need to make sure they're purchasing from reputableresellers. Companies getting rid of computers need to ensure themachinery is wiped clean of data. Used High-End Gear, Too
By some estimates, the market for used computer networkingequipment alone is worth as much as $3 billion; that doesn'tinclude the market for PCs or servers. This so-called secondarymarket encompasses everything from used desktops and laptops to theservers that run Web sites and corporate networks. Some businesseseven opt for used versions of high-end gear, such as switches thatconnect computers, routers for linking multiple networks, and thehulking mainframe computers that support hundreds of users. "Therewill be a bunch of systems that will come out of downsizing orfailed companies," says Robert Houghton, president of Redemtech,one of the many providers that help corporations move large volumesof used equipment and determine whether it can be resold. Redemtechsends its best equipment to Micro Center for resale. Otherrefurbishers include Intechra and Network Hardware Resale . Even IT equipment manufacturers such as IBM ( IBM ), Dell , Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ ), and Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) play a role in helping refurbish used gear.
Source: 沱沱网
Keywords:Industrial Supplies
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