How many devices do we actually need to replace?

Fewer than the asset register suggests, usually. The readiness assessment scans every device from the device side and sorts it into upgrade, firmware fix, replace or retire. The firmware finding, capable hardware with TPM or Secure Boot disabled, routinely moves a meaningful share of what looked like the replace bucket into the upgrade bucket at no hardware cost. The retire finding, devices with no user and no recent sign-in, removes more. The replace list after both recounts is the number to budget from, and it is the input to the refresh plan rather than something the plan estimates.

Should we standardise on one model for everyone?

On a small number of models, one per role type, rather than one for everyone or a dozen accumulated by accident. A single specification for the whole fleet overspends on roles that need little and underserves roles that need more. A dozen models is a dozen driver sets, firmware procedures and spare parts problems. Two or three role-based standards, a knowledge worker device, a mobile device, a fixed-desk device, is what makes a fleet supportable, and the standards should be written from what each role does rather than from what the loudest user asked for.

Why does Autopilot registration matter at purchase?

Because it is the difference between zero-touch and one-touch. A device registered by the supplier at purchase arrives already known to your tenant and can ship directly to a user anywhere in India, configuring itself on first boot. A device that is not registered has to come through IT first to have its hardware hash captured and uploaded, which adds a shipping leg, an engineer step and a delay to every single device. Registration is a clause in the order, agreed before it is placed, and verified in the tenant before delivery is accepted, because a supplier saying they did it is not the same as it being done.

Should we buy or lease?

That is a finance decision we can inform but not make, and it depends on your capital position, your accounting preference and how you want the refresh cycle to run. What we would say is that leasing tends to force the rolling cycle that a planned refresh needs anyway, because devices return at a defined age, and buying tends to produce the ageing-in-blocks problem unless somebody establishes the cycle deliberately. Either can work. What does not work is the decision defaulting to whatever the supplier proposed. We do not publish figures for either, and the comparison depends entirely on your terms.

How long does a refresh take?

Planning, from replace list to a placed order, is typically a few weeks: defining the standards, testing models against peripherals, deciding support models and writing the order. The rollout is paced by two things: procurement lead times, which vary, and your capacity to support users in the days after each wave, which is the real constraint once Autopilot has removed the provisioning bottleneck. A refresh of a few hundred devices commonly runs across a quarter or more, in waves, and trying to compress it produces the fifty-devices-in-boxes problem.

What about all the docks, monitors and headsets?

They are the budget line that surprises finance, and the compatibility between a new laptop and an old dock is not guaranteed. A refresh of laptops is a refresh of everything that plugs into them, and the honest approach is to list peripherals per role before the order, test one new device against the existing dock before buying fifty, and budget the peripheral line explicitly. Discovering desk by desk during rollout that the docks need replacing is the most avoidable schedule problem in a refresh.

What do we do with the old devices?

Wipe them to a standard you can evidence, close the asset record, and dispose through an authorised e-waste channel that provides a certificate per device. Under the DPDP Rules a laptop leaving your control with residual personal data is a potential breach with a reporting obligation, so this is a compliance step rather than housekeeping. It should happen per wave, because a cupboard of a hundred retired devices is a project nobody starts. Resale through an authorised refurbisher is a legitimate route and it still requires the wipe and the certificate.

How do we stop this being a crisis again in four years?

By establishing a rolling cycle from this refresh onward rather than replacing the whole fleet at once and letting it age together. A third of the fleet replaced each year, or devices replaced at a defined age tracked in the asset register, turns the next refresh from an emergency into a budget line that finance sees coming. The Windows 11 refresh is the natural moment to do this because the entire fleet is being examined anyway, and the decision costs nothing beyond writing it down and tracking device age.

Can the refresh and the Windows 11 upgrade run together?

They should, because they are the same programme. The readiness assessment sorts the fleet, the upgrade bucket moves in place through Intune, the replace bucket becomes the refresh plan, and both are sequenced into the same waves by department and risk. Running them as separate projects produces a department that gets upgraded in March and refreshed in June, with two disruptions instead of one. Where devices are bridged on ESU, the exit dates align to the refresh waves so every bridged device has an order behind its date.

Can you do this remotely? We are not in Hyderabad.

Largely yes. The planning, the standards, the model testing and the order specification are desk work, and Autopilot means devices ship directly to users anywhere in India without passing through us or you. The parts that need physical handling are collecting and wiping the outgoing devices, which we arrange through authorised channels, and occasionally a site with a large concentration of fixed-desk devices where a visit is more efficient than shipping. We are based in Gachibowli, Hyderabad and work with organisations across India. Initial enquiries get a reply within 4 business hours.

Device refresh, India

Buying laptops as they fail is the most expensive way to run a fleet. Windows 11 has just made the alternative unavoidable.

Reactive replacement produces a fleet of a dozen models nobody can support consistently, a budget that arrives as surprises, and devices that are always slightly too old. A planned refresh produces a small number of standard models bought on a schedule, provisioned without an engineer through Autopilot, and disposed of with a certificate. The Windows 11 hardware bar has forced the decision on every organisation still carrying pre-2018 devices, and the readiness assessment tells you exactly how many that is.

Book a refresh planning session See what a refresh plan decides

Microsoft

Windows 11

Cloud Solution Partner

Few modelsStandardise, then support
PhasedBy role and risk, not by failure
Registered at purchaseSo Autopilot works from the box
Certified disposalA DPDP matter, not housekeeping

What the plan decides

Eight decisions that turn a replace list into a programme.

The readiness assessment produces a replace list. The refresh plan turns it into something procurement can order, IT can provision, and finance can approve, and each of these decisions changes the outcome more than the choice of laptop brand does.

Standardising on a small number of models

Every model in the fleet is a driver set to maintain, a firmware procedure to test, an Autopilot profile to verify and a spare parts line to hold. Two or three standard models, one per role type, is manageable. A dozen accumulated through reactive purchasing is not. Standardisation is the decision that makes every subsequent piece of support cheaper, and it only happens if somebody decides it before the order.

Matching models to roles rather than to people

A finance manager, a field engineer and a receptionist need different devices, and giving everyone the same laptop either overspends on the receptionist or underserves the engineer. Role-based specification, a knowledge worker standard, a mobile standard, a fixed-desk standard, is how a fleet gets the right device to the right person without a per-user procurement conversation.

Phasing by role, risk and business calendar

The replace list is sequenced, not dumped. Devices handling sensitive data or facing the internet go first. Departments with a month-end or a busy season are scheduled around it. Sites with disposal logistics are grouped. The phasing is what makes a refresh deliverable by an IT team that also has a day job, and it is what gives the ESU exit dates something real behind them.

Supplier registration and delivery

Devices registered for Autopilot at the point of purchase arrive already known to your tenant and can ship directly to a user anywhere in India. That is a clause in the order, agreed before it is placed. Without it, every device passes through IT for registration first, which turns zero-touch into one-touch and adds a shipping leg to every delivery.

Warranty, support and what happens when one breaks

The warranty term and the support model decide the total cost of the fleet far more than the purchase price does. On-site next business day for a distributed workforce, or a swap pool held centrally, or an AMC arrangement that covers the fleet after the warranty lapses. Deciding this at purchase is cheap. Discovering the answer at the first failure is not.

Peripherals, docks and the things nobody budgets

A refresh of laptops is also a refresh of docks, monitors, headsets and the cables between them, and the compatibility between a new device and an old dock is not guaranteed. This is the line that surprises the budget, and it is worth listing per role before the order rather than discovering it desk by desk during rollout.

Disposal of the outgoing fleet

Every retired device needs a data wipe to an evidenced standard, a closed asset record, and disposal through an authorised channel that provides a certificate. Under the DPDP Rules a laptop leaving your control with residual personal data is a potential breach with a reporting obligation, and Indian e-waste rules require authorised disposal. Building this into each wave prevents the cupboard full of old laptops that almost every organisation has.

The cycle after this one

A refresh is not an event, it is the start of a cycle. Deciding now that a third of the fleet is replaced each year, or that devices are replaced at a defined age, turns the next refresh from a crisis into a budget line. The Windows 11 refresh is the moment to establish the cycle, because the whole fleet is being looked at anyway.

What goes wrong

Eight refresh failures, and the decision that prevents each.

Refresh programmes fail in consistent ways, and almost none of them are about the hardware chosen. They are about decisions that were not made before the order was placed.

A dozen models accumulated over three years

Bought reactively as devices failed, each on whatever the supplier had in stock. Every one is a separate driver set, firmware procedure and spare parts problem.

Standardise on two or three models before the first order
Buy in tranches of the standard, not one-offs
Refuse the substitution the supplier offers when stock is short

Devices arrive unregistered

The supplier did not register the hardware hashes, or registered them to the wrong tenant, so every device has to come through IT before it can go to a user.

Put registration in the order as a condition of acceptance
Verify in the tenant before accepting delivery
Keep a fallback for capturing hashes, and hope not to need it

The whole fleet lands in the same month

Procurement was efficient and the rollout was not. Fifty devices in boxes, an IT team of two, and users asking when they get their laptop.

Phase deliveries to match provisioning and support capacity
Sequence by role and risk, not by whatever arrived first
Autopilot removes the provisioning bottleneck, not the support one

The docks do not work with the new laptops

The refresh budget covered laptops. The existing docks, monitors and cables were assumed compatible and were not.

List peripherals per role before the order
Test the new model against the existing dock before buying fifty
Budget the peripherals line explicitly

The first failure has no support path

A device breaks in a remote city, the warranty is return-to-base, and the user is without a laptop for a fortnight.

Decide the support model per role at purchase
On-site or swap pool for anyone who cannot be without a device
Know when the warranty ends and what covers the fleet after

Old devices accumulate in a cupboard

Retired laptops with data still on them, no asset record closed, no disposal arranged. A DPDP exposure sitting in a storeroom.

Wipe and dispose wave by wave, not at the end
Use an authorised channel that provides a certificate
Close the asset record when the certificate arrives

Everyone gets the same device

A single specification for the whole fleet overspends on the roles that need little and underserves the roles that need more, and both groups notice.

Two or three role-based standards
Specify from what the role does, not from what the loudest user wants
Review the standards at each cycle, not each order

The next refresh is another crisis

The fleet was replaced in one go, so it ages in one go, and in four years the same emergency happens again with the same budget shock.

Establish a rolling cycle from this refresh onward
A third of the fleet per year turns a crisis into a line item
Track device age so the next order is planned, not forced

Why bring us in

We run fleets after the refresh, so we plan the one we would want to inherit.

We start from the readiness assessment, not from a catalogue

The replace list from a device-side scan is what a refresh plan should consume. Starting from what the fleet actually needs, after the firmware recount has shrunk it, produces a smaller order and an honest budget. Starting from a supplier catalogue produces neither.

Microsoft Partner, so Autopilot registration is part of the order

We know what to write into the procurement to get devices registered at purchase with the right group tags, and how to verify it in the tenant before accepting delivery. It is a small clause that turns a refresh from one-touch into zero-touch.

We standardise honestly, including for executives

The premium executive tier is the most common standardisation failure, and it creates a support exception for the people least tolerant of support problems. We will make that case, and we will lose it sometimes, and the fleet is better when we win it.

We manage estates afterwards, so the plan has to work

A refresh partner who leaves after delivery has no reason to care about model count, support models or disposal. We support fleets for clients on an ongoing basis, so a fleet of a dozen models with a cupboard of old laptops is our problem next year as well as yours.

What drives the refresh

Why organisations plan one now.

The Windows 11 hardware bar

The dominant trigger in 2026. Devices below the processor bar have a defined end date, and the readiness assessment tells you how many there are. Most refresh programmes now start here.

An ESU exit date approaching

Devices bridged on Extended Security Updates with exit dates that need an order behind them. The refresh plan is what makes those dates real rather than aspirational.

A distributed or remote workforce

Staff across cities who cannot be handed a laptop, where direct-to-user shipping through Autopilot is the only sensible provisioning model and the refresh is the moment to adopt it.

Regulated organisations

Unsupported devices are an audit finding, and disposal without a certificate is another. The refresh plan is as much a compliance document as a procurement one.

Education with bulk purchasing cycles

Large tranches bought years apart, so the fleet ages in blocks. The refresh is the chance to move to a rolling cycle so the next block does not arrive as an emergency.

Growth past reactive purchasing

Organisations that bought devices one at a time as they hired and now have a fleet of a dozen models nobody can support consistently. The refresh is the reset.

Role-based standards

What each role actually needs, and what it does not.

A refresh is the moment to stop buying one device for everyone. These are the standards we typically define, and the point is that the differences are about the work, not about seniority.

	Role type	What matters
Knowledge worker, office and hybrid	Reliable, light enough to carry, a good screen and keyboard, a dock at the desk, a long warranty. Standard memory and storage.	High-end graphics, the largest screen, the thinnest chassis. These cost money and change nothing about the work.
Mobile and field	Battery life, durability, cellular connectivity where coverage allows, and a support model that does not require returning the device to an office.	Docking and desk peripherals. A field device that spends its life in a bag has different priorities.
Fixed desk and shared	Cost efficiency, ease of provisioning with a self-deploying profile, and a locked-down configuration. Often a small form factor desktop rather than a laptop.	Portability and battery. A device that never moves does not need to be a laptop.
Engineering, design and data	Memory, processor and graphics matched to the actual workload, which is worth measuring rather than assuming. A larger screen or an external one.	The lightest chassis. Performance and portability trade against each other, and this role picks performance.
Executive	The knowledge worker standard, honestly. Reliability and a long warranty matter more here than anywhere.	A separate premium tier. It creates a support exception for the people least tolerant of support problems.
Kiosk, shop floor, reception	Whatever the fixed-purpose application needs, provisioned self-deploying, with the software vendor consulted. Sometimes a thin client or a Cloud PC.	General-purpose specification. These devices do one thing and should be sized and locked down for it.

Two fleets

Reactive replacement against a planned refresh cycle.

Both replace devices eventually. One produces a fleet nobody can describe and a budget that arrives as surprises; the other produces a fleet with two models, a schedule and a line item.

Feature	Dimension	Reactive
When devices are bought	When one fails, or when a hire starts	On a schedule, in tranches
Models in the fleet	Whatever was in stock each time	Two or three standards, one per role
Provisioning	An engineer per device	Autopilot, registered at purchase, shipped direct
Support	Discovered at the first failure	Decided per role at purchase
Peripherals	Found not to fit, desk by desk	Tested and budgeted before the order
Outgoing devices	A growing cupboard	Wiped and certified per wave
The budget	Surprises through the year	A line item, known in advance
The next refresh	Another crisis in four years	A rolling cycle, already underway

The old laptops in the cupboard are a DPDP exposure, not a storage problem.

Almost every organisation we work with has a store of retired devices nobody has dealt with, and almost all of them still hold data. Under the DPDP Rules, a device leaving your control with residual personal data is a potential breach with a reporting obligation attached, and under Indian e-waste rules disposal has to go through an authorised channel. A refresh is the moment this either gets built into the process, wave by wave, with a wipe standard and a certificate per device, or gets deferred into a cupboard that grows with every wave. The second outcome is the default. It should not be.

Wipe to a standard you can evidence, and record which standard
Dispose through an authorised e-waste channel and keep the certificate
Close the asset record when the certificate arrives, not before
Do it per wave, because a cupboard of a hundred devices is a project nobody starts

The engagement

Five stages, and the standards come before the catalogue.

1
Take the replace list and define the role standards
The readiness assessment output, after the firmware recount, sorted by role. Two or three role-based specifications written from what each role actually does, agreed with department heads, and a decision on executives that we will argue for and sometimes lose.
2
Select models and test them
Standard models chosen against the specifications, one device of each tested against existing docks and peripherals before any volume order, and the peripheral line budgeted per role. Warranty term and support model decided per role at the same time.
3
Write the order with Autopilot registration in it
Registration at purchase with group tags as a condition of acceptance, direct-to-user shipping for remote staff, and delivery phased to match provisioning and support capacity rather than arriving in one month. Verified in the tenant before delivery is accepted.
4
Roll out in waves with disposal built in
Waves sequenced by role, risk and business calendar, aligned to any ESU exit dates. Each wave includes the wipe and certified disposal of the outgoing devices, so nothing accumulates. Asset records updated at delivery and closed at disposal.
5
Establish the cycle
Device age tracked in the asset register, a rolling replacement cadence decided, and the next tranche planned as a budget line rather than a future emergency. Then handover to your team, or ongoing fleet management if that is what you want.

Before the order

Twelve things to settle before procurement places the order.

The order is the point of no cheap return. Everything on this list is easy to decide beforehand and expensive to change afterward.

What to buy

Two or three standard models chosen, one per role type
Not whatever is in stock
Role-based specifications written down
From what the role does, not from requests
New model tested against existing docks and peripherals
Before buying fifty
Peripherals budgeted per role
The line that surprises finance

How it arrives

Autopilot registration written into the order as a condition
With group tags for profile assignment
Delivery phased to match provisioning and support capacity
Not all in one month
Direct-to-user shipping agreed for remote staff
The whole point of Autopilot
Warranty term and support model decided per role
On-site, swap pool, or AMC after warranty

What happens after

Wave sequence agreed by role, risk and business calendar
ESU exit dates aligned to it
Wipe standard and disposal channel arranged
Certificate per device, DPDP and e-waste rules
Asset register updated at delivery and closed at disposal
One record per device, start to finish
The rolling cycle for the next refresh decided
So this is the last crisis

Questions we get asked

Device refresh, answered plainly.

What sits either side of this.

Windows 11 readiness assessment

The scan that produces the replace list this plan consumes, after the firmware recount has shrunk it.

Learn more

Windows Autopilot deployment

The provisioning that makes a refresh of any size deliverable: registration at purchase, profiles, and shipping direct to users.

Learn more

Windows 11 vs Windows 10 for business

The device-by-device decision behind the replace list: what Windows 11 changes, what ESU really costs, and where each device lands.

Learn more

Next step

Decide the standards before the catalogue arrives.

The order is the point of no cheap return, and everything that makes a refresh work, the model count, the registration clause, the support model, the disposal route, is decided before it. Tell us where your replace list stands and we will plan from there. Remote-first from Hyderabad, serving all of India.

Book a refresh planning session Start with the readiness assessment

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Buying laptops as they fail is the most expensive way to run a fleet. Windows 11 has just made the alternative unavoidable.

Eight decisions that turn a replace list into a programme.

Standardising on a small number of models

Matching models to roles rather than to people

Phasing by role, risk and business calendar

Supplier registration and delivery

Warranty, support and what happens when one breaks

Peripherals, docks and the things nobody budgets

Disposal of the outgoing fleet

The cycle after this one

Eight refresh failures, and the decision that prevents each.

A dozen models accumulated over three years

Devices arrive unregistered

The whole fleet lands in the same month

The docks do not work with the new laptops

The first failure has no support path

Old devices accumulate in a cupboard

Everyone gets the same device

The next refresh is another crisis

We run fleets after the refresh, so we plan the one we would want to inherit.

We start from the readiness assessment, not from a catalogue

Microsoft Partner, so Autopilot registration is part of the order

We standardise honestly, including for executives

We manage estates afterwards, so the plan has to work

Why organisations plan one now.

The Windows 11 hardware bar

An ESU exit date approaching

A distributed or remote workforce

Regulated organisations

Education with bulk purchasing cycles

Growth past reactive purchasing

What each role actually needs, and what it does not.

Reactive replacement against a planned refresh cycle.

The old laptops in the cupboard are a DPDP exposure, not a storage problem.

Five stages, and the standards come before the catalogue.

Take the replace list and define the role standards

Select models and test them

Write the order with Autopilot registration in it

Roll out in waves with disposal built in

Establish the cycle

Twelve things to settle before procurement places the order.

What to buy

How it arrives

What happens after

Device refresh, answered plainly.

How many devices do we actually need to replace?

Should we standardise on one model for everyone?

Why does Autopilot registration matter at purchase?

Should we buy or lease?

How long does a refresh take?

What about all the docks, monitors and headsets?

What do we do with the old devices?

How do we stop this being a crisis again in four years?

Can the refresh and the Windows 11 upgrade run together?

Can you do this remotely? We are not in Hyderabad.

What sits either side of this.

Windows 11 readiness assessment

Windows Autopilot deployment

Windows 11 vs Windows 10 for business

Decide the standards before the catalogue arrives.

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