Notebook computers are becoming more important as they assume additional roles in the corporate computing environment. Corporations are integrating notebooks at an increasing rate, and these notebooks are more expensive than desktops. Effective management of notebook assets will therefore pay greater dividends than with desktops. This makes it crucial to look at notebooks when managing total cost of ownership (TCO).

As notebooks become primary computers, users are experiencing in-creased demands for more storage. Today's notebooks can easily run out of storage in 6 to 18 months, which is well before the useful life of the computer has ended. Hard drive upgrades are excellent tools for managing TCO.

The useful life of the installed notebook base can be extended 12 to 24 months by upgrading the hard drive (and possibly the RAM). The investment required for this is only 15% to 30% of the replacement cost of a new system. This enables users to get the data storage and processing capabilities they need, while freeing up investment capital for other corporate requirements.

Hard drive upgrades are commonly used for desktop computers. Organizations deploy new desktops only where more processing power is required, and existing desktops are upgraded for continued use in less processor-intensive applications. This tool for managing TCO has been largely untapped in the notebook arena, even though notebooks are more expensive and are in wide use.