Most managed providers will sell you hardware, and most buyers are unsure whether they should. The honest answer is that the provider's price is rarely the best available and the total cost is often lower anyway, because what you are actually buying is the specification, the standard build, and somebody else owning the warranty claim. Whether that is worth the margin depends on how many machines you buy a year and whether anybody internally wants the job.
What the margin actually buys
Three things. A specification chosen for a five-year life rather than a headline price, which is where most direct purchases go wrong. A standard build, so every new starter gets an identical machine and setup takes twenty minutes rather than half a day. And warranty ownership, so a failed machine is the provider's problem to chase rather than yours. If you buy fewer than about ten machines a year, the administrative saving alone usually covers the difference.
When buying direct is right
When you have volume, somebody internal who will own the specification and the warranty claims, and a provider willing to give you a written build standard to buy against. That last point matters: buying direct against no standard is how an estate ends up with nine machine types and no consistent image. Ask your provider for the specification even if you are not buying from them, and expect them to give it, because a well-specified estate is cheaper for them to run too.
Hardware as a service, and what it really is
A monthly per-device fee covering the machine, its warranty and usually its replacement on a cycle. It is a financing arrangement with a support wrapper, and its appeal is cash flow and predictability rather than total cost, which is generally higher. It is genuinely useful for a business that would otherwise run machines until they fail. Ask what happens at the end of the term, who owns the device, and what the early exit costs if headcount falls.
Writing an RFP that produces comparable answers
Most requests in this market produce replies that cannot be set beside each other, because each provider answers a different question. Fix that by specifying the estate precisely, stating the seat count and its unit, naming the applications that must be supported, listing the response commitments you require with numbers, asking for the exclusion schedule, and asking for the offboarding terms. Then ask every provider to price the same written year of expected project work.
Questions people ask about it procurement
Should we buy laptops through our IT provider?
Usually yes below about ten machines a year. The margin buys specification, a standard build and warranty handling, which normally costs more in internal time than it saves.
Is hardware as a service cheaper?
Generally not in total. It buys predictable cash flow and a replacement cycle, which is worth it for businesses that otherwise run machines to failure.
What should an IT RFP specify?
The estate, the seat count and its unit, the applications that must be supported, required response times with numbers, the exclusion schedule and the offboarding terms.
What is third party vendor management?
Somebody owning the relationships with your software and connectivity suppliers: chasing faults, tracking renewals and holding them to their terms so you do not have to.