In among all of the exhortations to get rid of IT kit cleanly and re-use it where possible, at least one major consultancy is advocating that this need not be done. PA Consulting has just published a white paper in which it suggests that whereas large computers - mainframes and the like - require technical consultancy and expertise to install and decommission, the smaller end - the PC for example - is increasingly commoditised and doesn't require anything more than the ability to plug it in before it will work. By moving into the world of disposable computing, larger companies would save 25% on their IT costs, says the consultancy.
Paul Clayton, senior consultant at PA, comments that although a dud computer retains some intrinsic value, too much time can be spent working on finding the reason it's gone wrong. "The biggest cost of computers is the re-engineering around them when they go wrong. It's the physical time it takes to try and fix a problem." This hasn't actually fed through to the commoditised nature of the PC - if you have a pen going wrong you don't spend ages trying to find out why, you go and get another one, he says.
This will be noticed in the corporate world much earlier than in the SME community, he suggests. It's not economic for a small business with no dedicated support to think through an IT policy like this when it's going to be stretched enough.
"Because of the reduction in the price of computers, it might become more prevalent for SMEs to nip down to PC World and buy a £300 PC when something goes wrong rather than pay for someone to come and fix it," he suggests. The difficulty will then be the lack of planned back-up of information in the small business market; the £300 replacement only works if all the vital information can be put on to it immediately, and that only works if everything has been backed up before there's a problem.
