A Smarter Way to Manage Technology, Start to Finish

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For IT and operations leaders, purchasing technology is only the beginning. The harder, ongoing part of the job is managing that technology across its full lifecycle, from deployment and everyday support to refresh cycles and eventual retirement, often across multiple users, locations and business functions. A single device or license is easy to keep track of. Multiplied across hundreds or thousands of them, spread across departments, that same task becomes a full-time operational demand.

Managed Services is built around that challenge, giving organizations a single partner to lean on across procurement, deployment, meeting spaces, cloud spend and retirement, rather than coordinating each stage separately.

The real cost of lost technology visibility

Managing devices, licenses and equipment across different teams and locations brings added operational demands because there are more assets to track, more requests to field and more moving pieces to keep aligned. When a laptop refresh, a software renewal and a facility move are all happening in the same quarter, across different departments, it becomes difficult to know what's deployed, what's aging out and what's quietly sitting unused.

A tech lifecycle management approach can help organizations:

Improve visibility into technology assets and spending
Reduce administrative burden
Simplify refresh planning and technology transitions
Scale technology investments as the organization grows

That kind of visibility isn't a given. Complete insight into enterprise technology assets has actually declined over the past year as hybrid environments, SaaS tools and cloud resources multiply what IT teams are responsible for tracking.¹ The financial impact of that gap shows up in ways that are easy to overlook. An estimated 30% of software budgets goes toward underutilized or redundant licenses, often because no single system shows what's actually deployed versus what's still being paid for.² Without complete visibility, it may be difficult to plan a refresh, retire a license or accurately forecast next year's technology budget. Managed Services closes that gap, giving organizations one clear view of assets and spend, supporting more informed refresh, renewal and retirement planning.

One connected strategy for every stage of the lifecycle

Managing technology doesn't end once equipment is deployed. New hires need devices configured before their first day. Departments add software and equipment throughout the year. Hardware reaches the end of its useful life on different schedules, rarely lining up with budget cycles.

A comprehensive lifecycle management strategy can help organizations manage technology from procurement through retirement by bringing together services such as:

Technology procurement and sourcing, that aligns equipment purchases with how employees actually work rather than relying on a standard catalog
Configuration and deployment that prepares equipment with the required software, settings and security configurations before it reaches employees
Asset management and tracking that maintains a current inventory of deployed devices, their locations and assigned users
Refresh planning that identifies aging equipment before it affects productivity or creates unexpected replacement costs

Bringing these functions together gives IT and operations teams a clearer view of their technology environment, helping simplify budgeting, improve planning and reduce unnecessary spending. Managed Services supports this approach by connecting equipment sourcing, pricing and ordering through a coordinated procurement and deployment process.

Building meeting spaces that work for hybrid teams

As hybrid work evolves, meeting spaces have become a bigger part of how teams collaborate. Meeting spaces should provide a consistent experience for in-person and remote employees alike, regardless of which office or room a meeting happens in. Inconsistent room setups remain one of the more common reasons hybrid meetings still feel disconnected, and poor room technology is frequently cited as a leading cause of meetings that start late or lose remote participants along the way.³

ODP Managed Rooms helps organizations design and support meeting spaces built for hybrid collaboration. You can utilize benefits like:

Integrated collaboration technology that delivers a consistent experience across rooms of different sizes and uses
Workspace planning and commercial-grade furniture designed around how the space will be used
Deployment and installation services that prepare rooms for use

Optimizing technology investments beyond hardware

Technology management extends beyond devices and meeting rooms into cloud environments, where costs can become harder to track as usage grows across departments. Cloud waste increased to 29% this year, driven in part by the growing complexity of managing cloud resources and the rapid adoption of new services, including AI tools.¹

As part of Managed Services, the ODP Cloud Optimization Process provides a FinOps analysis of current cloud spend across major cloud providers. This helps organizations identify opportunities to optimize usage, align resources with business needs and gain greater visibility into consumption patterns and cost drivers.

Planning for responsible technology retirement

Every technology investment eventually reaches end of life, and retiring those assets requires the same level of planning as deployment. Devices that are reassigned, resold or stored without a formal process can create security and compliance risks if sensitive data remains on the hardware.

As the final stage of a full lifecycle approach, Managed Services can support an IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) strategy focused on:

Removing assets in a documented, trackable way
Protecting sensitive data still stored on decommissioned hardware
Supporting refurbishment, reuse or responsible recycling for equipment no longer in active service

Bring the whole lifecycle together

Technology investments deliver more value when they are managed as part of a connected lifecycle. From sourcing and deployment to collaboration, cloud optimization and retirement, Managed Services helps organizations bring each stage together through a more coordinated approach to technology management.

Learn how Office Depot Business Managed Services can help support a more connected technology strategy.

¹ https://info.flexera.com/CM-REPORT-State-of-the-Cloud
² https://virima.com/blog/it-asset-management-statistics
³ https://blog.webex.com/workspaces/a-comprehensive-guide-to-conference-room-technology/
⁴ https://www.zenadmin.ai/blogs/it-asset-disposition

All content provided herein is for educational purposes only. It is provided “as is” and neither the author nor ODP Business Solutions warrant the accuracy of the information provided, nor do they assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.

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