If you have an unholy mess of 132.5 spare devices with no place to store them, you have a spare device problem. Relax. It’s ok. We’ll work through this together. First, as any weirdly IT-fixated psychoanalyst will ask, how did this happen? Simple. It’s all to do with spares management (a subset of device inventory management), or lack thereof. 

But we’re throwing zero shade because managing devices that aren’t in use is super tricky. Come down from that ledge, though, because we’ll show you a nifty way to get those spares under control, and it’s called device warehousing.

When Do Spares Problems Happen? 

Sometimes you have a ton of spares, and you’re unsure what to do with them. How did this happen?

Spares: Why You Have ThemProblemHow Did This Happen?No officeMaybe your business has shifted to 100% remote working. Before this, you onboarded and offboarded like crazy, with spare devices safely vacationing in your fully insured and air-conditioned IT cupboard beside the printers. But now, you’ve no office. And no office means nowhere to stash your spares.Downsizing Perhaps you’ve needed to downsize to a smaller office. A reduced real estate footprint means fewer costs, but your business has to prioritize space for people and ideas rather than devices-in-waiting. Or maybe you’ve downsized your team but kept their devices, and those spares are piling up with nowhere to go.Waiting to onboardPerhaps you’re a startup that’s scaling up, and you’re about to hire a gazillion people. You’ve bought the fleet, but they’re not operational yet. Good pricesDid you score a stack of iPads at a major discount but haven’t dished them out? So, now you have a million devices clogging up your restroom.

What’ll solve these problems is an IT asset lifecycle management system adapted to control and secure devices as they flow in and out of the work cycle. For used spares, you’ve spent money on those devices, so they’re not yet ready to be sent to the device graveyard.

So, What’s Device Warehousing, Then?

Device warehousing is our name for how we secure and maintain devices that are temporarily spare. It’s part of device inventory management, adding an extra layer of service and security in response to changes in client’s needs as they navigate the COVID-19 challenges. Many businesses no longer have a safe house or a safe person to look after spares, and so device warehousing closes that gap. Spare devices are physically shipped to and stored in a secure, insured location and then cleaned, maintained, and prepped, ready for when needed again.

Device warehousing completes the whole IT asset lifecycle for businesses that are 100%  remote working or want to prioritize space for better reasons than storage.

Five Reasons Why Device Inventory Management Is Good For Your Business

Simplicity and streamlining your business aren’t the only reasons why you might like to think about device warehousing. Here are just a few extra juicy advantages to delight you:

Benefits of Device WarehousingBenefitWhat’s good about it?Integrity of inventory of assets for ISO 27001If you’re aiming to gain or maintain ISO 27001 — device inventory management or how you manage and protect your asset inventory, including your spares, directly feeds into Annex 8 controls. Adherence to SOC 2 principlesYou’ll maintain adherence to each of the five SOC 2 principles, but especially the Security principle.Reduced costsYou’ll spend less on permanent storage space and all its subsidiary costs, such as physical security, insurance, cleaning and disaster recovery costs.Real-time asset informationYou’ll have immediate and up-to-date knowledge about the status of your spares for speedy and accurate management decisions about hiring, moving to different platforms or reconfiguring work teams.Increased data securityYour spare devices are physically protected from unauthorized access.

Spares Management Means Grown-Up Device Inventory Management

Let’s face it. Spares management can be a pain. Who likes unboxing, prepping, re-boxing, and licking all the stamps to get new devices where they need to go? Who likes organizing Fedex to collect offboarded devices? Who has the time to clean, maintain, categorize, and board spare devices until they’re needed again? We do, that’s who. We’re one of the first IT folk around these parts to offer device warehousing as part of an MDM service. If you’d like to close your IT asset loop (ouch!), give us a call.

Ignition is Silicon Valley’s best (and friendliest) IT security, compliance, and support team. Contact us now – chatting about IT support and cybersecurity is our favorite thing to do!