A report published by Dimension Data today reveals that many company’s are hanging on to their legacy network equipment up to the last-day-of-support (LDoS). But the percentage of network devices being used past this digital retirement date has dropped dramatically.
The total percentage of network devices which have passed LDoS has fallen from 31% in 2009 to 9% in 2010. However, the total amount of technology late in the obsolescence phase remains high, with the percentage of devices in late stage end-of-life sitting at a substantial 47%. This could be evidence that more organisations are choosing to “sweat” assets up to, but not beyond, the highest risk lifecycle stage.
These statistics are taken from data in the Network Barometer Report 2011. Dimension Data’s report covers aggregate data compiled from 270 Technology Lifecycle Management (TLM) Assessments conducted worldwide in 2010 by the Group for organisations of all sizes across all industry sectors. It reviews the networks’ readiness to support business by evaluating the configuration variance from best practices, potential security vulnerabilities, and end-of-life status of those network devices.
“While some organisations appear to be wising up to the financial benefits of intelligently ‘sweating’ network assets, if the cost savings aren’t weighed against the risks, they could also be exposing themselves to serious business continuity issues,” says Raoul Tecala, Dimension Data’s global Business Development Director, Network Integration.
“Sweating assets is a term applied to extending or maximising the useful life of an existing technology asset, and thereby avoiding the need to replace or update it until absolutely necessary. This allows organisations to maximise their return on investment while minimising their capital expenditure,” explains Tecala.
While there’s no definitive method of telling whether the drop in the percentage of devices beyond LDoS means that organisations are actually choosing to push certain assets past a certain lifecycle stage, the results certainly suggests that clients are more aware of their network assets and are refreshing those devices where risk is greatest. Tecala says the assertion that older devices are at higher risk of security breaches is acknowledged by standards and compliance bodies.
By Angela Meadon
