Is PC-as-a-Service part of your hybrid work strategy?

BrandPost By Jefferson Raley
Jul 18, 20235 mins
Analytics

Struggling with device diversity? Here comes PC-as-a-Service to the rescue.

Attending the meeting via video
Credit: Cecilie_Arcurs

If someone told you a decade ago that deploying IT services would be more like streaming video content than the traditional procurement and provisioning process, you probably wouldn’t have believed them.

Right?

Enterprises have been evolving toward as-a-Service models for years, but most of this transition has been executed in software, via SaaS and other subscription models. Most IT departments now rapidly deploy applications to employees with the click of a few buttons and pay a monthly fee for them, a practice that freed staff to reduce the tedium of distributing and managing software.


As it happens, refreshing disparate client devices also remains a big management burden for IT staffers—and a big expense for companies. Add to that the proliferation of everywhere and anywhere work and IT staffers feel even more overwhelmed. A different approach is in order—one that better aligns with today’s corporate policies.


The PC-as-a-Service (PCaaS) model makes it just as efficient to deploy and support your PC fleet.


As best practices for hybrid work evolve, subscription models provide the perfect playbook for enterprises that want to manage fleets of devices during a time when IT departments struggle to deploy, secure, manage, and support PCs located everywhere from your main campus to individual home offices.


The diverse diversity challenge


Let’s drill down a bit into the challenges IT departments face in managing various PCs, a task that has grown more onerous since the pandemic pushed people to work remotely in 2020.


Getting new PCs into the hands of employees and making sure they’re regularly refreshed is complex. The old models of centralized staging and warehousing can create delays and excess shipping costs in today’s hybrid workstyles. Moreover, IT teams struggle to find time to manage day-to-day PC lifecycle tasks.


Consequently, more PCs are aging out of warranty support and are remaining in the field longer. Over time, this creates a class of technical debt in which more differentiated devices remain in play as typical three-year refresh cycles are extended. This affects user productivity as aging devices tend to require more maintenance, which also increases costs and security risks.


User experience suffers as well, with inconsistent support services. For example, it’s easier for IT staffers to support on-site employees, while it may take several days before they are available to service PCs for remote workers.


Yet with many employees working in corporate offices at least part-time, remote, and hybrid work is now an embedded part of accepted work practices, according to 45% of employees IDC surveyed in 2022 on behalf of Dell Technologies and Intel1. This means IT departments must strike the balance between servicing in-office and remote employees.


The flexibility to transform your IT


As it happens, there’s a better way to get new machines into the hands of employees who need them—whether they’re working from home or in a corporate office.


With Dell APEX PC-as-a-Service, your IT team can choose the devices, software, and services, then scale up or down based on business needs.


Your team can schedule routine device refreshes to ensure employees have access to the latest, greatest devices all while lowering overall PC lifecycle costs by 30%, according to Forrester Consulting, research commissioned by Dell Technologies and Intel2. IT can also decrease the time it takes to onboard new employees by as much as 50%, according to the Forrester report.


By taking this service-oriented approach to PC management, IT teams will spend less time managing and supporting devices, freeing up time to focus on projects that have a greater impact on the business.


From a financial perspective, Dell APEX PCaaS flips the script of employee device purchasing from a fixed cost to a predictable, monthly expenditure. Payments that spread out over time—like leasing a car or subscribing to cable services—align with your experience of consuming cloud software while affording you flexibility in how you plan your budget and allocate people resources.


With Dell APEX PCaaS you can help your overworked IT staff deploy, support, and manage PCs, reducing time to value and total cost of ownership while ensuring that employees remain productive.


By having a clear view of costs, companies can focus on what matters: Driving business growth.
Learn more about Dell APEX PCaaS here.

1 Transforming the Employee Experience for a Hybrid Work World, IDC, 2022.
2 The Total Economic Impact™ Of Dell PC As A Service, Forrester Consulting, Nov. 2022.