Osage County reviews countywide computer refresh after vendor flags aging equipment

A Century Business Technologies representative recommended that Osage County begin a phased, department-level refresh of aging desktop and laptop computers and examine end-of-service risk for core servers, commissioners heard April 8.

The vendor representative told the Osage County Commission that many county machines are Dell models and are approaching or past manufacturer service windows; extending manufacturer service contracts is possible but only a temporary measure. "Typically, we would say around $2,000 per machine," the vendor said, describing a quote that would include the new hardware, warranties, docking stations where needed and labor to migrate users to the new machines.

The recommendation would prioritize departments with the oldest equipment and grouped refreshes so whole departments move to a consistent cycle. The vendor estimated the county has roughly 50 user machines (not including servers and core infrastructure) and proposed options including immediate purchase, lease financing, or buying extended service contracts to buy time while budgeting for replacements.

Why this matters: several elected offices — the clerk, registrar of deeds and treasurer — have multiple machines coming due for refresh around 2026, creating a potential one-time budget pressure if replacements are purchased in the same year. The vendor and commissioners discussed consolidation measures (for example, replacing separate desktops and laptops with a single laptop and docking station) to reduce device counts and ongoing support costs.

Commissioners and staff discussed budgeting approaches and timing. The vendor suggested spreading replacements across multiple years (for example, 10 machines per year) or aligning on a 3-year or 5-year capital plan. Commissioners noted the county has a capital improvement fund that could be a source for part of the cost and asked the vendor to provide department-level proposals to inform the upcoming budget process.

The vendor also flagged an immediate risk: one of the county's on-site servers is at end of service and could take months to replace if it failed. "If that server crashed today, it's 2 months before we could get a new one installed to get the parts ordered and everything," the vendor said, urging the board to consider server replacement or contingency planning.

Next steps: the vendor will prepare written proposals and department-level cost estimates and meet individually with department staff. Commissioners said they will use those proposals in budget planning and prioritize replacements where security, productivity and service contracts indicate urgent need.