Government Computer News
When it pays to buy used
In addition to being cheaper, refurbished network gear can match existing hardware and keep legacy code running
THE OPERATIONAL TEAM at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) found itself recently trying to make the ends and the means meet. The team wanted to augment a bank of SGI Origin computers being used to estimate how quickly Greenland’s glaciers were melting, but it had no money for new equipment.
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Luckily, team members found they could afford refurbished equipment from SGI. The lab purchased two additional SGI Origin 300 computers, one with 32 CPUs and the other with four CPUs, in addition to an SGI Altix 3700 16-CPU system.
“No new equipment was really budgeted so we weren’t planning on buying anything new, but with the availability of these systems, we were able to find some funding to enhance our computing resources,” said Joseph Kwan, a JPL senior systems administrator.
JPL is not alone among government agencies buying refurbished products.
A quick search through Federal Sources’ government contracts database shows other such procurements.
The Midwest acquisition department for the Environment Protection Agency spent $49,200 in 2006 to purchase nine refurbished Cisco Systems Catalyst 3750 Powerover- Ethernet switches in 24- and 48-port configurations. A shopping cart filled with nine identical new switches, which have likely come down in cost since then, would go for about $2,300 more, a recent price check at CDW Government shows. And NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center spent $39,000 to purchase from a reseller five refurbished Sun Microsystems Sun Fire V880 servers — a server Sun no longer sells.
Agencies have budgets for information technology equipment, however tight they might feel at times. Why take a chance on purchasing used equipment? Under the right conditions, used equipment could fill a void. The procurement of refurbished gear that matches what agencies already have could keep a network inventory homogeneous. It also could keep existing code running. And, yes, it could complete an IT inventory when the budget falls short. A used component can cost anywhere from 25 percent to 90 percent less than a virgin equivalent. And unlike used cars, new equipment can be just as reliable as the new stuff.
The sale of refurbished or used equipment is a robust, well-formed market, said Joe Pucciarelli, IDC program director for studying technology financing and management strategies.
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