What happens to the old installed system when it gets replaced?

Re: What happens to the old installed system when it gets replaced?

I should add that in this theoretical scenario, the old system is not actually old, nor is it broken or undesirable in any way. The reasons it's being replaced don't really matter.

Also, I wasn't asking what an install vendor does with the old system, I was wondering what the company that owns the gear does with it.

Daniel, at our university, we have several options:

1) Transfer the property to another department or college if it is still usable. We do this often with projectors that are 'end of life' for our purposes, but still functional.

2) Keep working equipment in our stock as back-ups, or for low-budget installations for departments that don't have funds for new equipment. This may require an inventory transfer if the equipment 'belongs' to someone else.

3) Transfer the property to our 'Surplus' department. They will process the equipment in one of several ways:
a) allow other departments to browse and select equipment they wish to keep. There is no charge to the new 'owner' that takes equipment from surplus.​
b) Scrap or recycle valuable items. (metals, etc.)​
c) Auction the items off. They have an auction about once a quarter. Usually things are sold in lots. (ie. pallets)​

As an interesting side note, the last time the university auctioned weight/exercise equipment, it went for a premium. Almost new prices! There are companies that can handle the auction for you.

One inventory 'gotcha' to watch for is the dreaded 'system-inventoried-as-a-single-item' problem. The last inventory cycle we had, I noticed that we have a $68,000 Surgex SX-1115 surge protector on our inventory! Before you get rid of stuff, make sure that you actually look at what the inventory tag number is described as in your company's inventory list. If we happen to replace that Surgex unit and for some reason it gets scrapped without being removed from the inventory correctly, we'll have a big hole that the accountants will ream us for, even though the rest of the system is actually still present.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
Re: What happens to the old installed system when it gets replaced?

Another option is to donate it to a non profit for a tax write off. We have a lot of corporate install clients that do this when they swap gear.