Hardware Lifecycle, Refresh, and Replacement Policy

1. Purpose

This policy defines the standard service life for catalog devices, the conditions under which devices are refreshed or replaced, and the end-of-life procedures applicable to retired hardware. It applies to all employee-issued devices regardless of business unit, workforce segment, or geography.

2. Standard Service Life

3. Refresh Eligibility

A device becomes eligible for refresh when any of the following are true:

• The standard service life has elapsed.
• The device’s lifecycle status is "End-of-Life" in the catalog.
• The device cannot support a required operating system update or security baseline.
• Repeated hardware issues result in cumulative downtime exceeding 10 business days within a rolling 12-month window.
• A documented role change places the employee into a profile that requires a different device class.

Devices that are not yet eligible may be refreshed early only by exception, with director-level approval and a documented business justification.

4. Refresh Process

1. The asset management system notifies the employee and their manager 60 days before service-life expiration.

2. The employee selects a replacement device from the catalog that matches their current role profile in the Role-Based Device Assignment Matrix.

3. The new device is staged, imaged, and shipped to the employee.

4. The employee transfers data using the supported data-migration toolset. Local-only data not migrated by the employee is not recoverable after device retirement.

5. The retired device is returned through the prepaid-return shipping kit or the on-site IT desk within 15 business days of receiving the replacement.

Refresh orders not completed within 90 days of the eligibility date are escalated to the employee’s manager. Devices retained beyond service life without refresh begin accruing extended-support costs charged to the business unit.

5. Replacement Outside of Refresh

Replacement outside of the scheduled refresh cycle is provided in the following scenarios:

• Damage — Damaged devices are repaired where economical or replaced where not. Replacement is at the same model and configuration tier.
• Loss or Theft — Reported within four hours through the IT Service Desk. Devices are wiped and disabled in the management console. Replacement is at the same configuration tier. Losses tied to documented negligence are reviewed by HR.
• Defect — Devices failing under manufacturer warranty are replaced through the warranty channel and do not consume refresh budget.
• Role Change — When a role change requires a different device profile, the new device is provisioned through the standard onboarding workflow and the previously issued device is returned through the standard return process.

6. Loaner Devices

Loaner devices are available for short-term assignment when an employee’s primary device is being repaired, replaced, or temporarily unavailable. Loaner allocations are limited to 30 days. Extensions require manager approval.

Loaner pools are maintained at:

• All major corporate offices
• Each retail district headquarters
• All field operations dispatch centers

Loaner devices are imaged to a generic profile and are not customized for the borrowing employee.

7. End-of-Life Procedures

When a device reaches end-of-life:

1. The device is removed from active inventory in the management console and quarantined from corporate networks.

2. A certified data sanitization process is executed. Drives that cannot be sanitized in software are physically destroyed.

3. The device chassis is processed through the certified e-waste partner under the corporate environmental compliance program.

4. A certificate of destruction is generated for each device and retained in the asset record.

End-of-life processing must complete within 45 days of device retirement. Devices held beyond this window without a documented reason are escalated to IT compliance.

8. Special Provisions

• Field Devices — Field rugged devices follow a condition-based refresh model in addition to the time-based standard. Devices that fail durability inspection at any point in their lifecycle are retired regardless of age.
• Retail Devices — Retail POS devices are tied to store equipment cycles. A store’s entire POS fleet is refreshed as a unit to avoid mixed-version retail environments.
• Executive Devices — Executive devices may be refreshed at the start of a new fiscal year when business need justifies, with CIO approval.

9. Reporting and Metrics

The EUC team publishes monthly reports including:

• Devices eligible for refresh within 90 days
• Devices retained past service life
• Average device age by workforce segment
• Loss and theft rates by region
• Certified end-of-life completion rate

These reports are reviewed by the End-User Computing Steering Committee and shared with Finance Asset Management.