According to Bill Roch, research director of leasing services with Framingham, Mass.-based IDC, leasing doesn't mean that life is going to be simple. He points out that large financial institutions can have thousands of lease schedules to manage and, though there are software tools available to help, "It's a big job." Nonetheless, Roch says, leasing makes it more likely that a firm will take advantage of the latest equipment. "It's easier for a company that leases to stay ahead of the technology curve," he says.
However, if the majority of a firm's IT equipment is leased, Roch cautions, it's critical that the leases cover different time periods. "If you have 10 storage subsystems, you don't want all those expiring in a six-month period, because you are not going to be in a position to swap all those out at the same time," he explains. Further, when it comes to buy-versus-lease decisions, Roch says, it's smart for firms to do both - determining when each makes sense on a case-by-case basis.
Take Out the Trash
Acquiring technology isn't the only challenge a CTO faces. Disposal of IT assets, and the charges that come with it, has become a huge aspect of managing technology, UMB's Matteoni says. No longer can CTOs put off disposal considerations until the assets' life has come to an end, because the cost and effort required to dispose of technology assets are too significant to ignore. Rather, disposal costs must be discussed during the initial vendor agreement and factored in as part of the total cost of ownership.
"The last thing you want is to have one of your old PCs with Social Security numbers on it and things like that surface," Matteoni says, noting the advent of regulations such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley. "Today, you have to figure out not just how to get rid of the hardware, but how to get rid of the information on it, so you have to look at disposal costs when making a purchase."
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
