I was at home in the kitchen the other day, when I noticed something that made me stop and think. On the back of a cake box, I saw an ad inviting people to do their part in feeding the hungry. Simply clip the coupon out, mail it in, and the company would donate ten cents toward this noble cause.
A well-intentioned idea? Of course. But on further reflection, it didn’t seem to be such a good idea. After all, in order to take advantage of the offer, the user would have to use a paper envelope, spend 44 cents on a stamp, and then the Post Office would have to expend at least a tiny bit of fuel to get the coupon to its destination. In other words, what seemed like a simple goodwill gesture quickly morphs into a pretty bad deal for the environment, when everything is taken into account.
So what does this have to do with IT asset management, you ask?
I’m glad you asked. When companies search for ways to drive down their IT costs, they sometimes likewise rely on seemingly good deals that shave a few dollars off their equipment disposition costs. But in doing so, they may well be relying on contractors who say they have environmentally responsible practices, but who then turn around and do irresponsible things, like shipping material to Third World landfills. Just as in the case of the promotion that promises to feed the hungry, the intentions were good, but the methods ran contrary to the larger purpose.
The truth is we all have to consider the entire picture when we jump at what seem to be good offers of any sort. Behind the face value of any seemingly good deal often lies a more complicated reality. As the ancient wisdom has it: caveat emptor, or “let the buyer beware.”
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