Cisco Used and Refurbished Switches: Buy, Lease, or Rent? - By: Jim Murphy

Valued for their easy configuration and reliability, Cisco Catalyst switches are some of the highest rated network switches on the market. But you don't need to pay full price to receive their benefits. Instead, you can buy them in refurbished form, lease them, or rent them from an IT service that refurbishes, rents, and leases Cisco products. Below, we examine the advantages of each option.

1. Buying used and refurbished switches

Buying used and refurbished Cisco switches offers several advantages over buying new ones, particularly:

• Optimization of IT investments for companies with small IT budgets.

• Economic option for maintenance spares to assist in disaster recovery.

• Avoidance of lead-time on new equipment.

• Economic option for temporary fixes that expand or maintain a network.

• Best option for purchasing quality end of life equipment.

Reconditioned Cisco equipment often costs less than half of its original price, a meaningful saving considering used and refurbished switches continue to perform like new for years to come. If you need a Catalyst switch on a permanent basis, but you can't afford to buy it new, buying it refurbished from an IT service that specializes in refurbishing is an excellent option. Some services offer reconditioned Cisco products with a lifetime warranty.

2. Renting

Renting is ideal in situations where equipment is needed on a temporary basis, some examples of which include:

• Proof-of-concept analysis, where a product is tested to see if it offers the expected benefits.

• Data center migration, which requires backup components to replace regular components during the migration process.

• Peak usage backup, where a first line of equipment is backed up by a second line to protect against equipment failure.

• A unique project that requires components that won't be useful to other projects.

Renting offers an excellent solution to temporary switch needs, but it isn't a cost effective way to supply components on a permanent basis.

3. Leasing

If you need components on a permanent basis, leasing them is more affordable than renting them. Leasing also offers some advantages over buying new or reconditioned products, such as:

• No maintenance costs

• No upfront cost of purchase

• More financial flexibility when replacing old hardware with new hardware

• Protection against owning hardware that becomes obsolete

Leasing is a preferred option of companies whose IT budgets can't accommodate new Cisco products. Leasing is also a preferred option of companies that don't have in house IT technicians. Most IT companies that offer leasing provide back-end lease protection that protects their customers from leasing products that lose their usefulness during the lease period.

About the Author

In my research on used and refurbished switches, I've studied the benefits of buying Cisco used and refurbished switches.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jim-Murphy/151588

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