Growth is good - but can only succeed if structures grow with it. Fast-growing companies in particular are familiar with the problem: new colleagues start, but the hardware is missing, arrives late or is not ready for use. This causes frustration among employees and teams who actually have other things to do.
Because if you want to scale quickly, you not only need new employees, but also a functioning IT infrastructure. And this often shows that IT procurement has not grown to the same extent.
🔎 When IT procurement becomes a brake on growth
Growth is (almost) always the goal. But without the right structures, it quickly becomes a burden. Especially in start-ups and scale-ups that hire numerous new employees in a short space of time, IT managers and HR managers quickly reach their limits. This is because every additional team member needs functioning hardware - and this must first be procured, set up and managed.
Internal time expenditure blocks strategic resources
In many companies, internal teams are forced to take on these tasks: IT orders laptops, sets up devices and documents serial numbers. At the same time, HR takes care of coordination, waits for deliveries and answers queries. Both departments should actually be working on other issues: IT on building a scalable infrastructure, HR on designing professional onboarding and sustainable employee retention.
This leads to an enormous amount of time being spent internally and blocks precisely those resources that are actually crucial for the company's growth.
High investments tie up liquidity
Added to this is the financial pressure: the classic purchase of equipment means high one-off costs that tie up liquidity, especially in dynamic growth phases. Money that would be much more urgently needed elsewhere - in marketing, product or recruiting, for example. This capital commitment is often unsustainable, especially for young companies with strong growth.
Delayed productivity start of new employees
The start of new employees is also particularly critical If devices are missing or not ready for use, companies lose valuable time. Projects are delayed, teams can't get up to speed. And in a phase where speed is crucial, growth comes to a standstill.
Poor onboarding experience
An often underestimated aspect: if new employees are not fully equipped at the start, it is not only their productivity that suffers, but the entire onboarding experience. Studies show this: Those who become frustrated in the first few days because hardware is missing or processes are bumpy are much less likely to stay with the company in the long term. This increases staff turnover, ties up recruiting resources and results in repeated training efforts. Valuable operational capacities are lost. And that slows down growth twice over.
The solution: renting instead of buying - scalable, flexible, relieving
IT rental, often offered as Device-as-a-Service, provides relief exactly where growth hurts. It is not just another form of financing, but a model for relief and scalability:
Devices quickly available
With rental models, required hardware such as work laptops or company cell phones are ready for use within a few days, whether in the office or home office. Supply bottlenecks can be avoided. Supply bottlenecks can be better cushioned by central warehousing and contractually regulated availability than with individual purchases.
Rollouts & returns included
Operational tasks relating to provision and return are eliminated. Hardware staging, delivery, return and off-boarding are handled by the rental partner. This is a huge advantage, especially when there are frequent changes.
Integrated support and secure exchange
Professional IT support is available in the event of problems or defects. If a device does not work as expected, it is repaired or replaced - simply, quickly and without additional coordination effort. This reduces downtime and keeps employees productive.
No warehousing or worries about old appliances
Devices that are no longer needed can be easily returned. The rental provider takes care of data protection-compliant deletion, recycling or remarketing.
This completely eliminates the need for internal storage space, sales processes or old device management.
OPEX instead of CAPEX: costs remain predictable
Instead of large one-off expenses, companies pay monthly installments. This creates financial flexibility, ensures predictability and relieves the strain on liquidity. This is a particularly important aspect in growth phases with parallel investment requirements.
🚀 Conclusion: growth only succeeds with relieved teams
Growth companies do not have to do everything themselves. On the contrary: if you want to scale, you have to be able to let go and rely on external partners. This applies not only to marketing or logistics, but also to IT equipment and device management.
Nobody would think of building their own data center infrastructure today. Instead, companies rely on cloud services such as AWS or Azure. It is faster, easier to plan and frees up internal resources that create more value elsewhere.
Why should IT equipment be any different?
Especially in fast-growing organizations, IT and HR teams are already under a lot of pressure. If they also have to take on operational tasks such as ordering, setting up or returning devices, this slows down the entire company.
A good rental model ensures that the equipment works simply and runs quickly, reliably and with minimal effort for the internal teams. This allows decision-makers to concentrate on what drives their company forward: Shaping growth, creating structures, attracting talent.
➕ Tip:
A rental model is particularly useful when growth is not linear but occurs in phases - or when onboarding/offboarding becomes routine.
A good rental partner not only takes care of the provision, but also the complete device management - from staging to support and return.
