How Hardware-as-a-Service Saves Money, Smooths Budgets, and Guarantees Modern Networks

What Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) is
How HaaS transforms hardware budgets and saves money
How HaaS breaks the hardware refresh frustration cycle
What to look for in a HaaS agreement and partner

Procurement. Configuration, installation, and setup. Break-fix. Diagnostics. Troubleshooting and support. Stress about downtime. Security updates. Firmware updates. Daily monitoring. Outage response. Inventory tracking. Hardware refresh decisions. Responsible and secure disposal, including data and device wiping. Strategic planning for the next five years. Budget presentations and approval process.

Rinse and repeat.

It’s not the 90’s anymore, and it takes a lot to manage even just your network hardware. Your network underpins your entire operations, so it’s mission-critical, but what else is being sacrificed?

You and your team only have the capacity for so much—and if you’re stretched thin as it is, it can feel nearly impossible to stay proactive with hardware management and keep up with maintenance. You may be spending all your time tamping down issues instead.

Then, there’s the cost of keeping hardware current, secure, and at the scale you need. Every four years.

Even if you have the passion and skillset for network strategy and design, do you have the time you desire for this? Or are you getting bogged down in monotonous device management tasks and troubleshooting?

While Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has not so quietly revolutionized access and affordability, you may not have tapped into its equally powerful counterpart yet: Hardware-as-a-Service.

Ahead, we’ll cover a few of HaaS’s biggest benefits: saved hardware costs, normalized budgets, and modern network access.

The Challenging Costs of Network Hardware Ownership

it hardware

Infrastructure consumes a large share of IT budgets for organizations as diverse as small- mid-size businesses, regional hospitals and private practices, K-12 school districts, and state and local government.

Owning network hardware is a lot like home ownership. Traditionally, it means a large upfront cost; a significant Capital expenditure.

Yet the costs don’t end there.

You’re also on the hook for maintenance and upkeep costs, security costs, troubleshooting, and any outages or downtime.

As we touched on above, this work takes time and IT talent—another large portion of your IT budget.

And while homes typically appreciate in value, in part through your hard work and investment, IT hardware depreciates. Quickly.

With the rapid rate of technological evolution, most organizations must plan to update and refresh network hardware every 3-5 years. If they don’t, they risk technology obsolescence, preventable security vulnerabilities, and a disconnect between updated end-user devices and your aging infrastructure.

Many organizations find that once they get to Year 4, they simply don’t have the capital for another large hardware purchase. Yet they won’t be able to securely serve their users or scale to fit their needs without it.

Enter Hardware-as-a-Service.

How HaaS Solves for Budget Constraints

As a procurement model, Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) is simple and cost-effective: you lease or rent network hardware from an expert partner for a monthly or annual subscription.

This delivers three key financial benefits:

Eliminates the upfront cost of hardware procurement
Normalizes budgets, transforming a large CapEx purchase into a predictable operating expense
Eliminates the purchase frustration cycle: when it’s time for a hardware refresh, procurement is as simple as swapping in the new devices, within the monthly or annual lease agreement.

As is, this model makes HaaS super cost-effective. But the secret to realizing the best ROI is to work with a HaaS partner who does more than lease equipment.

[Funding Tip: For K-12 school districts, HaaS is also eligible for funding through the E-Rate Program’s MIBS (Managed Internal Broadband Services). This makes it easier for school districts to access both hardware and support from a qualified partner—without exhausting your internal team.

Both K-12 schools and state and local governments (SLED) can use funding tools like the National Association of Procurement Officials (NASPO) contract to make procurement easier and faster by purchasing within the contract and bypassing the RFP process.]

What Should You Look for in a HaaS Partner?

A HaaS partner who also includes network hardware management services will help you amplify your cost savings, free up your IT team’s capacity, and help you navigate budget constraints and strategic infrastructure planning, ensuring you always have access to a modern, secure network infrastructure. And they’ll do this for what is typically far less than what it costs to purchase hardware and maintain it internally.

For example, a customer came to Northriver IT with a looming crisis: their network equipment was aging out, and they simply didn’t have the $500,000 in available cash to replace it. Through a HaaS agreement, they re-equipped their entire network, spread payments over five years, and handed off ongoing maintenance to our team. The result? Peace of mind, predictable costs, and no compromises.

Here’s what you should look for to be included in your HaaS services agreement:

Predictable, managed hardware maintenance and support
Hardware deployment
Proactive monitoring
Security and firmware updates
Inventory tracking
End-of-life disposal

HaaS partners like Northriver IT expertly manage thousands of devices. That scale allows for greater efficiency, deeper expertise, and stronger cost control—benefits you inherit when you work with one.

Proactive maintenance and monitoring reduce downtime and risk, while consistent refreshes prevent technology decay. Plus, your MSP can surface underutilized features and improve hardware ROI.

The best HaaS partners also act as strategic consultants. With broad, vendor-agnostic insight into evolving technologies, they help you avoid pitfalls, plan upgrades, and maximize performance—informed by their depth of experience managing network infrastructure of all sizes.

If you and your team are overextended and buried in endless operational and support tasks, you’ll find that working with a HaaS partner lessens the load of responsibility and actually frees up your capacity to think strategically about your network and other important priorities.

Rather than threatening jobs, offloading network hardware management to a HaaS partner reduces workload and reactive support, limits burnout, and enhances focus on high-impact tasks, including endpoint management, a full-time job itself.

Your Network Hardware Shouldn’t Hold You Back

If your team is overwhelmed and your budget can't easily accommodate surprise capital expenses, Hardware-as-a-Service offers a smart, sustainable solution. It ensures your network stays current, supported, secure, and reliable, without overburdening your staff or finances.

You’ll also gain:

Built-in and always up-to-date hardware security
Consistent access to the latest technology
Expert support without adding headcount

Ready to Learn More?

Download The Ultimate Guide to IT's New Secret Weapon: Hardware-as-a-Service: How the Right HaaS Partner Saves Thousands, Revolutionizes Hardware Access, and Frees You from Monotonous Device Management.

You’ll get more details into HaaS and how it works, including a side-by-side breakdown of the costs of hardware ownership vs HaaS, real examples from Northriver IT HaaS customers, and use cases for organizations who benefit the most from HaaS.

Download the Guide

Quick Answers

What is Hardware-as-a-Service?

HaaS is a subscription-based procurement model where organizations lease hardware—like networking gear—from a provider instead of purchasing it outright. Instead, the organization pays their HaaS partner a predictable fee, either monthly or annual, shifting hardware procurement from a Capital expense to an Operating expense. HaaS works well for organizations such as small and medium-sized businesses, K-12 school districts, healthcare organizations, and state and local governments.

Is HaaS Secure and Compliant with Industry Regulations, Such as HIPAA or FERPA?

Yes, when implemented properly. Reputable HaaS partners offer enterprise-grade hardware configured to meet industry-specific security and compliance requirements. For example, healthcare organizations can ensure HIPAA compliance with encrypted storage and secure data disposal, while K-12 schools can maintain FERPA standards with controlled access and device usage policies. Always confirm that your HaaS partner understands your regulatory landscape and includes compliance-focused features in their service-level agreement (SLA).

How is Hardware as a Service (HaaS) different from Network as a Service (NaaS)?

While both HaaS and NaaS are “as-a-service” models that reduce capital costs and simplify IT management, HaaS provides physical equipment and infrastructure hardware, while NaaS puts more of an emphasis on network connectivity, including cloud integration.

Combining HaaS and NaaS can offer a complete, managed IT environment—streamlining everything from network hardware to performance under predictable operating expenses.