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August 8, 2004: 9:25 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Many corporations bought new computers at the beginning of the decade because of Y2Kfears. Many of those companies are now looking to buy again.
This year, thousands of corporations across the country will update their computer systems thus retiring millions of personal computers, printers, scanners and equipment.
Traditionally, the rule of thumb is to replace a computer every three years, said Paul Baum, chief executive officer of PlanITROI Inc., a Denville, N.J., computer consulting firm. Updating computers is necessary every three years to avoid the costs of help desk calls, repairs and downtime depending on how much an employee has used their computer and how much they travel among other factors, he said.
Most retired computers from businesses, government departments and individuals find new life in schools, charities, nonprofits and rehabilitation organizations.
Bridge House, a New Orleans nonprofit that fights substance addiction and aids recovery, uses donated computers to teach clients how to build and work on computers as part of its job skills program.
We go through our donated computers to see what we can use. If they don't work, we strip the parts, test them and rebuild them as working computers, said Oscar Pineda, manager of the Bridge House computer store on Jefferson Highway. We try to make sure our clients learn as much as possible about building computers as one of their job skills. Once they work, we slap a price sticker on them and try to make as much money as possible for Bridge House.
Earlier this month, the New Orleans Saints donated more than 30 pieces of computer equipment, including 20 personal computers, to Cafe Reconcile, a nonprofit project of Reconcile New Orleans and the St. John Francis Regis Hospitality School.
The school provides at-risk teens and young adults with the skills needed to succeed in the hospitality industry. Cafe Reconcile is a fully operational restaurant with comprehensive job training programs targeting the restaurant and hospitality industries.
It is a valuable recycling project and a tool for getting computers to those who cannot afford to purchase new equipment, said James Page of Cafe Reconcile.
Arnold Fielkow, Saints executive vice president of administration, said Cafe Reconcile is a perfect place to donate used computers. Cafe Reconcile provides valuable job training to at risk teens and young adults - giving them not only help in the present, but the life and job skills to create their own bright future, Fielkow said.
Before retiring computers, many companies try to get a return on their assets by determining the equipment's value. In today's fiercely competitive business environment, asset management fits well with corporate management styles that call for thrifty use of every piece of equipment, Baum said. When a company gets the most from obsolete assets, it can use the value to offset the cost of new hardware and software.
Jerome J. Reso Jr., an attorney with Baldwin & Haspel LLC, said companies receive a tax deduction based on the market value of the donated equipment. Determining value is tricky, he said.
It depends on how old they are and what their market value would be, Reso said.
Several companies offer services that allow corporate information technology managers to determine an appropriate time to retire their computers and how much the computers are worth, Baum said.
Though tax benefits can be sought through the donation of computers and computer equipment, that wasn't the objective of our recent donation to Cafe Reconcile, said Paul Corliss, director of community affairs and business public relations for the Saints. We were simply looking to pass the computers and hardware along to a charitable organization that needed equipment.
Baum said IT asset value is based on the type and quantities of desktop computers, laptops, monitors and other information. In some circumstances, companies will make an offer to buy outdated equipment, he said. If the asset value is high, buying companies will pay for used corporate equipment, he said. Some companies provide end-of-life services for imaging, erasing data from the hard drive, removal and proper environmental disposal with documentation to meet all federal and state environmental laws if the equipment is value is low, he said.
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