To improve IT energy efficiency and sustainability, IT leaders are often advised to keep hardware in use for as long as possible. This is because a significant proportion of the hardware’s lifetime carbon footprint is consumed prior to onsite deployment.
Logically, extending the life of hardware reduces its lifetime carbon footprint, but according to Gartner analyst Annette Zimmerman, there are two issues IT leaders need to weigh up. First is the security risk that organisations face if they extend the life of IT equipment. Manufacturers may only provide hotfixes and patches for a certain period of time, after which the hardware is no longer able to run the latest software, making it potentially vulnerable to cyber attacks. The other issue with extending the life of IT equipment is that it may reduce productivity.
