“Carbon credits are permits representing the removal of 1 ton of carbon from the atmosphere. Credits are allotted to nation or companies and can be traded to help balance total worldwide carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions…..”.
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We’re indeed in the midst of an economic recovery although with still reeling with oscillating COVID infection rates. To tap on this growth trajectory and seize businesses opportunities, businesses need to be versatile and agile in mobilising its workforce-juggling between work-from-home and hybrid work models. Businesses need to be able to equip its workforce with the right devices and at the same time ensuring the endpoints are protected from inherent cyberthreats.
Rentalworks’ integrated IT asset lifecycle management solutions consisting of specially curated device leasing programs enables businesses to maneuver seamlessly in this new normal. We work out the best available tech devices that fit each SMEs business requirements at the cost that fits their budget. Our unique lease-to-use approach ensures the process of deployment, maintenance and refresh are all managed throughout by Rentalworks; at the same time ensuring all endpoints are managed and protected from anywhere, at anytime. Our solutions help businesses reduce costs of sourcing, procuring, and managing these devices – so that they can focus on growing their businesses.
Laptop leasing is an alternative to buying; a favored alternative when a business is looking at defraying/rationalize its costs. The purchase price of a laptop typically constitutes 20% of the total costs which is just the tip of the iceberg when taking into consideration total costs of ownership of that device throughout its lifespan. The balance of the 80% are hidden costs which encompass updates and fixes, support and maintenance, failures and recovery and last but not least, decommissioning and recycling of the device. By subscribing to Rentalworks leasing solutions which incorporates end-to-end IT asset lifecycle management, that 80% is ‘incurred’ and is the responsibility of Rentalworks as the lessor of the device. Imagine the amount of cost savings of that approximately 80% costs of managing the device?
Rentalworks’ leasing does not merely provide lease-to-use IT devices notably laptops. Its solutions extend beyond financing the device. Rentalworks provides end-to-end IT asset lifecycle management services i.e. from assisting in curating a plan that meets the requirements and budget of its clients (hence eliminates the hassles of sourcing), deploying the assets and securely within the chain-of-custody to managing/maintaining the devices throughout the lease period. Our clients see the value of our solutions as it alleviates the 80% ‘hidden’ costs, diversify the procurement options, off-loads inventory management, and provides up-to-date firmware cyber-security.
COVID-19 Pandemic has altered the way companies operate, bringing forward sustainable imperatives – cost rationalisation and reduction in carbon footprint. Spotlight is now on companies to play a big part in managing climate change, with Circular Economy high on the agenda.
By design Circular Economy is engineered to be restorative and regenerative retaining as much value as possible from products, parts and materials. One of the key drivers in propelling Circular Economy forward is an effective sustainable ICT Asset Management solution – a solution that ensures responsible consumption and efficient waste management through a lease-for-use platform versus outright procurement of the assets.
The economic benefits of circular economy are immense. The Circular Economy Advantage, Waste to Wealth report by Accenture indicates that Circular Economy can deliver US$4.5 trillion economic benefits by 2030 primarily through the following 5 business models:
* Sharing Platform: Stimulates collaboration among users
* Product-as-a-Service: Lease or pay-for-use arrangement
* Product Life Extension: Repairing, upgrading and reselling.
* Circular Supply Chains: Supply of renewable, recyclable and biodegradable resources.
* Recovery and Recycling: Eliminates material leakage
A sustainable ICT Asset Lifecyle Management that leverages on a lease-for-use platform is an example of Product-as-a-Service and Product Life Extension business models. Innovative lease-for-use platforms provide effective device health checks and preventive systems will ensure efficient use, and when warranted, collection of these devices.
Companies which leverage on lease-for-use programs when compared to outright purchase will benefit from a few advantages:
* Reduced carbon footprints
* Gains in economic benefits
* Increased efficiency
* Improved cash flow & profitability
A lease-for-use program provides the opportunity for companies to refresh their IT devices as they age, maintain performance and reliability while also reducing overall capital expenditure. The aged assets will then be re-purposed to support the Circular Economy Agenda.
Founded in 2007 Rentalworks, with regional footprints in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and partners in other parts of Asia, aims to help companies achieve their Circular Economy goals. Rentalworks provides a cost-efficient ICT asset management with the mission of extending the lifespan of the assets to its optimal lifecycle. It offers carefully curated operating lease propositions enabling companies to boost their cash flow and at the same time be a significant player in reducing greenhouse emissions for a greener Circular Economy.
In its mission to enable early adoption of the Circular Economy, Rentalworks proudly brings innovation to IT acquisition through its unique ThinkZero Leasing Program with the following benefits:
* Device Insurance for accidental damage and loss of asset
* Premier support with next business day on-site service
* Sealed battery warranty for leased devices
* Temporary laptop during downtime with no extra charges required
* Eco-friendly data erasure service with proper disposal of assets
Additionally, productivity tools such as Microsoft Office 365 Suite, G-Suite Work and Enterprise class anti-malware software are available as add-ons.
Beyond procurement or acquisition of the IT devices, Rentalworks’ leasing program, applies Device-as-a-Service at the core of its business model to ensure that its customers receive an all-inclusive service engagement through the devices that are leased. This business model not only supports Circular Economy, it also bundles in inventory management system by tracking devices’ plan updates with regular health checks to ensure that devices are performing at its best. Not only that, this will also optimize the overall lifecycle value of the devices as it alleviates disposals that are caused by breakdowns.
Once a device is at its end-of-life lifespan and no longer has any reuse value, responsible disposal of the device is pivotal in maintaining a sustainable Circular Economy. Rentalworks ensures its end-of-life management solutions include responsible disposal and secure data sanitization for all IT devices leased under its program. Once the device has exhausted its lifespan and no longer has any reuse value, it will be recycled in accordance to local environmental laws.
Rentalworks ensures that eco-friendly data erasure is completed before recycling by erasing all confidential information from the hard drive to eliminate risks of data leakage. To further ease the process, Rentalworks deploys a team who will manage both the logistics and processing of these IT devices with its certified partners.
Article by:
Lisa C.
Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4), the buzzword in many speakers’ vocabulary across the past events I’ve attended in recent months. The spotlight on IR 4 and its eco system is about digitalisation of everything we use today from work to play. Recently I caught a biographical thriller series on Eli Cohen, an Israeli Mossad agent sent to Syria which could not have been more apt to showcase technology usage at its most basic form. Suffice to say he managed to achieve most of his goals however he was eventually caught red handed communicating to his agency via Morse code. Comparing that to today in 2019, and in the middle of IR 4 and the Internet-of-Things; the technology options available to us to go about our life is simply mind boggling.
With the advent of IR 4; cloud, artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous driving and of course IoT have been trending words bandied around to describe the aftermath of digitalisation of the economy. We have been so fixated with all these trending technologies that it’s easy to forget that the fundamentals of all these high tech mumbo jumbo is your humble yet still relevant personal computer. According to 2018 report by the Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, the number of PCs in use worldwide is more than 1 billion units since 2008 and touching 2 billion units today. That’s a massive amount of computers and I am sure many of you are not aware that the manufacturing process of a personal computer represents up to 85% of its entire lifecycle energy demand while for smartphones their manufacturing energy demand is up to 60% throughout its useful life.
The same report also states that the energy burden of a typical computer used for 3 years is 4,222 kWh. Taking that into consideration since most computers in an enterprise environment has a typical lifecycle of 3 years, the energy generated from the manufacturing process itself for a computer equates to CO2 emissions emitted from the charging of 380,700 smartphones or carbon sequestered by almost 50 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. Clearly this is an environmental and long term sustainability challenge which we all need to address more so with the current climate change effects already bearing down upon us. Add that with the current smog pollution we are facing, any steps taken to reduce CO2 emissions is a responsibility we all need to take seriously.
So how can we ordinary folks do our part as a responsible citizen of the world? Start small and take baby steps to improve your knowledge on climate change. Understand what causes this global phenomenon and identify changes which you can make fairly quickly and easily in places you spent most of your time in i.e. your home and office comes into mind. Since I am an active proponent on proper IT asset lifecycle management, one of the best methods I could suggest is to take the trinity of R’s approach of Reuse, Remarket and Recycle. I have intentionally removed ‘reduce’ as this term personally does not resonate in today’s business environment as technology innovation for productivity is the main driver for any industry and it’s challenging to set limitations to this approach.
A typical PCs lifecycle journey within an enterprise would include planning on the right processing power with customised specifications driven by business requirements, acquisition by either purchase of more commonly today, by flexible leasing agreements, deployment of assets with application bundles, support maintenance and management of assets with proactive tools and lastly, secure disposal of assets with industry standard data erasure to ensure data security compliance. The implementation of the trinity of R’s within an enterprise ensures PCs that have reached its end of life within an organisation can go on to gain new purpose, based on its ability to fulfil productivity requirements in different areas which has lower computing requirements.
These processes dramatically lower the need for unnecessary forced disposal of IT assets which could otherwise be reused or remarketed. Selecting the right IT asset lifecycle management partner will be crucial to ensure these processes are done correctly and responsibly. Rentalworks Group is a leading provider in sustainable ICT asset lifecycle management services. We have assisted enterprises and government agencies to navigate their IT asset lifecycle from IT planning, acquisition by leasing, deployment management and asset maintenance and secure disposal processes in a responsible manner. Observing the trinity of R’s approach ensures the lifecycle management of tens of thousands of ICT assets like PCs, notebooks, smartphones, tablets and tech wearables would be in the most sustainable manner.
Article by:
Alan Puah
Managing Director
Digitalisation efforts have been accelerated tremendously the past one year due to COVID-19. Many businesses have brought forward their digitalisation plans and efforts in order to adapt to the new normal business landscape. Banks ramped up digitization efforts with expanded digital payment tools/channels, shopping malls begun enabling online stores complementing footfall traffic which has taken a dip with lock-downs and social distancing measures coupled with schools pivoting to online lessons.
One such common theme of the digitalisation effort is remote collaboration or more commonly known as telecommuting. It is without a doubt that hybrid work environment seems to be here for the long haul, businesses nowadays are leveraging on online meeting and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams to communicate and deploy cloud based storage to share files real time and remotely.
The trend in pivoting towards telecommuting indeed brings many advantages such as :
Telecommuting has its own set of challenges too. Some of the challenges are:
Companies certainly need to find an optimum balance between on-site and remote working arrangement – a balance that ensures productivity is not at stake and employees are not burned out. Be it a hybrid model or an environment that adopts telecommuting holistically it is without a doubt remote collaboration platforms and compatible IT devices are key components in ensuring sustainable uninterrupted business operations.
Article by:
Lisa C.
FarEastFlora.com rooted from humble beginnings as a little florist, with Ryan’s father and two uncles (its founders) peddling eggs and flowers from the back of a van carting their goods around Singapore in the ‘60s.
Ryan Chioh, grew up in this environment and literally went through the school of hard knocks – assimilating the nuts and bolts of running an orchid farm in Yew Tee, Singapore. School holidays would typically mean helping out with sales and delivery of flowers.
Today with Ryan’s in-depth knowledge in IoT and awareness that the way to move the business forward and align with changes in consumer purchasing behaviour, Ryan successfully created an e-commerce platform –
FarEastFlora.com. The launch of this platform saw the business capturing a wider target market not just within Singapore, but Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Ryan speaks to us on his aha! moments in propelling his business into a leading online florist within this region.
There were many aha! moments for me. The one that I truly relish was when I returned from the States and realised that the traditional hardcopy catalogue-based business model is not sustainable and we needed to transform.
My exposure in the States where e-commerce was booming back then got me thinking and gave me the idea to push this idea through – a total shift to a full-swing e-commerce florist with much wider outreach spanning across three markets i.e. Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The other aha! moment was when we had to re-invent our call centre to a remote collaboration model. As business was booming and with the increased number of inbound calls, it got me thinking on how best and easily can I expand my call centre team without being limited by office space.
I did a fair bit of research and stumbled into a call centre solution that enabled my call centre team to answer calls from home, equipped with the right IP phone and laptops. Looking back when Singapore had to move into a ‘circuit breaker’ our service to our customers was seamless – as our call centre team was already working from home.
When I returned to Singapore upon completion of my tertiary education in the States, I realised that the business was pretty much dependent on walk-in clients and catalogues – reaching out to target market via expensive hard copy brochures were quite limiting.
In the States back then e-commerce was booming and this prodded me to re-think our business model; to shift to an e- commerce platform and be one of the first movers as there were not many such services then within this space.
I believe lots of gumption, hard work, good teamwork and right technology/devices are pivotal in ensuring the success of any business model.
We ran many marketing campaigns to drive traffic to our e- commerce portal and being tech savvy I was quick to embrace new technologies, new platforms that I see will bring value to the business. Focus was on growing the business and if there’s opportunity to ‘outsource’ operational tasks which is not our core activity and competency we leveraged or subscribed to the right solutions.
At one point of our aggressive growth path, we needed to get enough computers fast for the team to work on. Sourcing and procuring these computers outright would entail substantial capital outlay and not to mention maintenance costs.
We were fortunate that we were introduced to Rentalworks’ integrated leasing solutions. We did not have to haggle with getting the right specifications and most importantly no huge capital outlay. This has enabled us to focus and deploy our capital for business expansion.