Lifecycle Management. A strategic practice.
31 July 2025 · by Ole Bülow
Egiss treats Lifecycle Management as a strategic discipline connecting procurement, provisioning, governance, and recovery. Through structured refresh planning, integrated asset data, and certified end-of-life processing, Egiss helps enterprises maximise value while improving security, sustainability, and financial predictability.
The eight strategic practices
Global enterprises do not optimise workplace technology for one priority alone. They balance risk, cost, experience, compliance, sustainability, and operational control - often across dozens of countries.
Over decades of supporting complex international environments, we have learned that eight disciplines consistently define success. These are what we call our strategic practices.
They are not service categories. They are the principles that guide how we design programmes, structure delivery models, and advise enterprise IT leadership.
No single practice wins in isolation. The right model sits in the balance between them - shaped by your risk profile, regulatory exposure, cost structure, and transformation ambitions.
This article explores one of those eight practices: Lifecycle Management.
Most enterprises manage transactions - not lifecycles
Procurement teams focus on price.
IT teams focus on deployment speed.
Support teams focus on ticket resolution.
Finance focuses on depreciation schedules.
Each function manages its part of the device journey.
Few manage the lifecycle as a connected discipline.
As a result:
Refresh cycles drift.
Asset records fall out of sync.
Residual value is lost.
Sustainability reporting becomes estimated.
Security controls weaken at end-of-life.
The organisation owns devices - but does not truly control their lifecycle.
The cost of fragmented ownership
When lifecycle management is not centralised and governed, hidden costs accumulate.
Devices remain in service longer than intended.
Warranty expirations go unnoticed.
Spare device pools are misaligned with demand.
Returns are delayed or incomplete.
Recovered value is inconsistent across regions.
More critically, decision-making becomes reactive.
Without consolidated visibility across countries, it becomes difficult to answer fundamental questions:
How many devices are active globally?
When is the next global refresh wave?
What is the total residual value forecast?
What is the true carbon impact of our device estate?
Without lifecycle governance, global workplace delivery becomes event-driven rather than strategically managed.
Lifecycle as a strategic discipline
Lifecycle Management is not a downstream ITAD service.
It is not a warranty tracker.
It is not a spreadsheet of serial numbers.
It is the structured orchestration of a device from selection to recovery.
At Egiss, Lifecycle Management is one of our eight strategic practices because it connects the entire model:
Procurement aligned with refresh planning.
Provisioning aligned with asset registration.
Deployment aligned with governance reporting.
Recovery aligned with financial and environmental outcomes.
Through integration with customer ITSM and ERP systems, asset data flows continuously - not manually.
Through structured governance cadence - bi-weekly operational reviews, quarterly strategic sessions, annual planning - lifecycle performance is measured and adjusted.
Through controlled global hubs and certified processing facilities, recovery becomes predictable rather than optional.
Lifecycle Management transforms workplace technology from a purchasing category into an operational discipline.
Financial, operational, and environmental alignment
When lifecycle is structured correctly, three outcomes align:
Cost control improves through planned refresh cycles and aggregated demand.
Security strengthens through predictable end-of-life handling.
Sustainability becomes measurable through controlled recovery and CO2e reporting.
Residual value becomes forecastable.
Capital allocation becomes intentional.
Global standards become enforceable.
Lifecycle discipline creates clarity.
Without it, complexity grows silently.
The right balance
Lifecycle Management must support employee experience.
It must enable sustainability objectives.
It must respect security requirements.
It must reinforce global standards.
Over-engineering creates rigidity.
Under-governing creates waste.
The right balance ensures lifecycle governance supports agility rather than constraining it.
Enterprises that master this balance move from reactive device replacement to strategic lifecycle orchestration.
Why this matters now
Device estates are expanding.
Hybrid work increases geographic dispersion.
Sustainability reporting requires traceable recovery.
Security frameworks demand certified disposal.
Finance expects predictable capital cycles.
The pressure on lifecycle control is increasing from every direction.
Enterprises that continue to manage devices transactionally will struggle to maintain visibility, control, and value extraction.
Lifecycle discipline is no longer optional.
It is foundational.
Closing perspective
Technology itself does not create long-term value.
Lifecycle discipline does.
That is why Lifecycle Management is one of our eight strategic practices.
Because without structured lifecycle control, global workplace delivery becomes reactive, fragmented, and financially inefficient.
Practical insight for leaders managing workplace complexity
A periodic briefing from Egiss sharing perspectives on global workplace delivery, lifecycle governance, and the realities behind reliable execution. Written for enterprise leaders who value clarity over noise.