“With such a small team, we rely on network automation tools. If we need to install software, we push it automatically. We don’t walk up to machines and do things almost at all,” Bray said. “So it’s important that the machines be long-runs of the same box. We don’t have to worry about any drivers or anything. We can make a good standard image and push it out.”
With the way technology turns over in the marketplace, the same computer might not be available to buy when more computer funding becomes available.
“If you go buy new machines, you buy $20,000 worth in March and you want to go and get some more in July, that exact same machine might not be there,” Bray said. “If you are buying off-lease business-class equipment that’s coming out of big corporations … there are millions and millions of them out there. And if we want more, even a year later, we can get them.”
CDI, he said, is great at handling large volumes of orders for the same machine.
“It isn’t only the price savings in getting lease-returned equipment, it’s that standardization is key to our efficiency,” Bray said.
Also, the way CDI packages and ships computers—stacked three-high and shrink-wrapped and bubble-wrapped on a skid—adds to Lebanon’s efficiency. There are no boxes to dispose of for each machine.
“It’s huge. Imagine if you are unpacking 200 computers. You’ve got 200 boxes and 600 pieces of foam—it’s a big deal for a little operation like us,” Bray said. “We could not possibly buy new machines and roll them out as efficiently.”
Quality control
Over the years, CDI has refined its procedures for testing, cleaning, upgrading, and even imaging the equipment it resells. It’s something that customers take for granted but ensures high value.
- Arkansas Department of Education Names Curriculum Associates’ Magnetic Reading™ Foundations an Approved English Language Arts Foundational Skills Program for Grades K–2 - March 31, 2023
- New Mexico’s Aztec Municipal School District Renews Multiyear Partnership Driving Student Engagement in Science - March 30, 2023
- 7 Mindsets Announces Formation of 7m Cares - March 30, 2023