A major component of the difficulty in extending beyond the EoSL of IT infrastructure equipment is finding a way to survive the cessation of security updates and other performance patches. AOM provides compelling solutions that OEMs can’t or won’t.

EoSL, the end of service life is really a forecast by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) as to when they believe they’ll bring a successor to the market. A new version, an upgrade, or an entirely new product. At that point they’ll want to stop stocking parts for the old version and end technical support. This comes sometime after EoL, the end of life for the product. The difference gives everyone time to prepare to switch to the new version.

The End Isn’t Necessarily the End

The fact that an OEM sets an EoL or EoSL date doesn’t mean that equipment suddenly stops working, or being useful. In reality, many products that have been performing well don’t need to be replaced when the OEM is ready. In a very real sense, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” really does apply sometimes.

In these cases, however, those devices may still fall into disrepair and need to be fixed. That may require replacement parts and some product servicing expertise.

Choice of Strategies

When a device that is beyond its EoSL breaks down you have a few choices available to you.

If you’re using AOM you have access to a large number of expert IT service providers many of whom will still have the experience needed. If you’ve planned in advance with them, they may even be willing to create a plan to stock parts so you can extend the useful life of these devices even further. It takes some planning, and some creativity, but in return you don’t make new capital expenditures.

Alternately, you may decide that you’re going to replace any EoSL products when and if they go into disrepair. This is a reasonable decision as long as you’re prepared to replace the expired product quickly enough so as to not cause any operational disruption. Again, a little pre-planning results in better service to your user community.

In this latter case, where you’re going to replace the EoSL unit you must also arrange to properly dispose of the expired equipment. There are specific rules and regulations governing IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) and a qualified provider will make sure you’re in conformance with them and have that documented. Fines for improper disposal can be steep, and ITAD services are readily available and generally inexpensive.

Choosing

The most important element to consider is the required pre-planning. You cannot wait until an EoSL device fails and then expect someone to have parts available for it. In your planning you may negotiate parts stocking, or simply the stocking of hot spare units that can be swapped out should yours fail.

Planning for ITAD of your failed EoSL unit is simpler. You need to know how long it would take to replace it with the new version and make sure that your operation can tolerate that period of outage. Be sure to include installation and implementation time for the new unit.

Learn More

To learn more about getting more out of your IT hardware investments, talk to AOM today!