Is a five-year-old laptop always due for replacement?

Not always. If it still gets security updates, runs Windows 11 and the employee is happy working on it, it can last a while longer. Do plan the replacement already, so you are not caught out when it fails.

Is leasing better than buying?

That depends on your situation. Leasing spreads the cost and enforces a fixed replacement rhythm; buying is often cheaper if you use laptops for a long time. Discuss the financial side with your accountant and, either way, make sure devices are managed and you have a plan for wiping old ones.

Can an employee take over the old laptop?

Yes, but only after the laptop has been fully wiped and removed from management and Microsoft 365. Record who took over the laptop and when it was wiped.

Should I buy business laptops or is a consumer model enough?

Business models usually have a longer warranty, better repair service and support for management and security. Over their whole lifespan they are therefore often better value than a cheap consumer laptop.

Replacing laptops: when an SME should replace a workplace and how to plan it

In many small businesses a laptop is only replaced when it truly gives up. That seems thrifty, but it often costs more: an employee sitting idle for a day, a new laptop bought and set up in a hurry, and files that only lived on the old drive. With a simple overview and a few fixed agreements, replacement becomes a calm, predictable job instead of an emergency.

Why waiting until it breaks is expensive

A laptop that suddenly fails always fails at a bad moment. The employee cannot work, something has to be bought quickly and setup happens under time pressure. That is exactly when steps get skipped: no encryption, no management, or a local account because it had to be quick. If you replace according to a plan, you choose the moment yourself, can set devices up properly in one go and prevent old laptops from quietly lingering with company data on them.

How long does a business laptop last?

There is no fixed expiry date, but for most office laptops four to five years is a reasonable rule of thumb. A laptop that travels a lot or does heavy work often lasts less. Look not only at age but also at these signals:

No more security updates: a device that no longer gets updates is an open door. See also what to do with PCs that cannot run Windows 11.
No support for modern security: think of a TPM chip for BitLocker or the requirements you set through device compliance.
More and more failures: a battery that gives up after an hour, a laptop that freezes during Teams calls, or a row of tickets for the same device.
Warranty expired: an out-of-warranty repair can easily cost a good part of a new laptop.

Start with an overview

You can only plan what you know. Record for each device: who uses it, make and model, purchase date, serial number and when the warranty ends. A management tool can track much of this automatically, but even a simple list is a big step. With that overview you can see at a glance which laptops are due this year and next.

Spread replacement and set aside a fixed amount

If you buy all laptops in the same year, you also have to replace them all in the same year. That is a big expense and a busy period. It is better to replace part of the team each year, for example a quarter with a four-year lifespan. That turns it into a predictable line in the budget. Discuss with your accountant how to depreciate the purchase, and preferably choose business models with a longer warranty rather than consumer laptops on sale.

What a calm replacement looks like

Files are already in the cloud: make sure work files live in OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams and not only on the desktop. Then nothing needs to be copied during the switch.
Set up the new laptop centrally: with Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot a new laptop can set itself up as soon as the employee signs in, with the same settings, software and security as the rest.
Check before handover: encryption is on, updates are installed, the user has no admin rights and can reach mail and files.
Retire the old laptop: remove the device from management and from Microsoft 365, so no forgotten device with access remains.

The old laptop: wipe it, do not leave it in a drawer

A retired laptop often still holds mail, files and saved passwords. Have it wiped verifiably before it is sold, given away or recycled, for example by resetting it through Intune or having the drive destroyed. Record which device was wiped and when. If a departing employee takes a laptop with them, handle that as part of the leaver checklist. And if a laptop goes missing in between, the overview also helps with what to arrange in the first hour.

What Floor ICT does

In every Floor ICT package we keep monitoring and inventory up to date, so you can see which workplaces you have, how old they are and which ones keep causing problems. Based on that, we tell you which laptops are due for replacement and help you choose. From Advanced we also handle onboarding and offboarding, including setting up new laptops and retiring old ones. You decide which models you buy, from whom, and how many you replace each year.

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