End of life
End of life (EoL) is the moment when equipment is considered no longer in operating order an needs to be replaced
What is end of life (EoL)?
End of life (EoL) is an important concept in infrastructure management. It is the point in time at which equipment needs to be replaced. In some cases, EoL is a predefined moment, while in other cases it is practically decided when the equipment is no longer operational.
Here are some examples of when a product might be defined as at the end of life:
- The product is no longer operational.
- The cost to maintain the product is less than the cost to replace it (or the annual amortized cost of the replacement).
- 50% of the equipment is no longer operational, so the remaining items are to be replaced.
- The product has lasted its assumed lifetime of, for example, five years.
- The contract with a closed hardware and software provider has ended.
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Why is end of life (EoL) important?
End of life is a critical component of calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO). Equipment that lasts five versus ten years is going to cost more per year. Furthermore, critical infrastructure can’t be allowed to fail, meaning its EoL is artificially shortened, increasing the cost of the equipment per year.
In closed systems, changing your provider means replacing all of your equipment, which is a costly EoL trigger. Technology-agnostic solutions allow you to replace individual equipment as it fails instead of the entire system at once.
Managed solutions can also change your equipment expenses from CapEx to OpEx. This is sometimes called “the end of end of life” as you are no longer financially responsible for hardware replacement when systems, such as NVRs, reach their EoL.
