It’s easy to view PC refreshes as being simply cosmetic. Businesses get new designs, faster processors, and maybe a thinner chassis.
By Musa Masungwini, data protector and cyber defender at Dell Technologies South Africa
These enhancements are certainly welcome, but the real significance of a device refresh strategy runs much deeper. It’s not just about performance. It’s about building a foundation of strong cybersecurity and business resilience.
As we mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it’s the perfect time to explore how a modern PC strategy plays an important role in securing your organisation.
The shift to hybrid work has fundamentally changed how and where work gets done, creating new opportunities and challenges. Research indicates that the South African endpoint protection platform market is projected to reach $114,5-million by 2030, growing at a 6,6% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.
While employees enjoy greater flexibility, IT teams face an expanded attack surface. Endpoints are no longer safely behind the corporate firewall. Instead, they connect from home networks, public Wi-Fi and everywhere in between, making them prime targets for cybercriminals. This is where a strategic approach to your PC lifecycle comes into play, transforming a routine refresh into a critical security update.
The hidden risks of an ageing fleet
Holding onto older devices for too long might seem like a cost-saving measure, but it often creates hidden risks and expenses.
Across the globe, 1,5-billion PCs are currently in use across offices, schools and homes. Of these, 30% are four years old or more. This older hardware cannot support up-to-date security features built into modern operating systems. To add to the security risk, outdated devices don’t even have neural processing units (NPUs) to take advantage of the latest AI advancements.
For example, many organisations are currently navigating the transition to Windows 11 – particularly in South Africa, where 40,95% of Windows users were still on Windows 10 in August 2025.
The refresh cycle to Windows 11 presents a pivotal opportunity to enhance security from the ground up. Windows 11 was designed with a security-first mindset, requiring hardware with features like a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0. This chip provides hardware-based security functions, such as creating and storing cryptographic keys, that are far more secure than software-only solutions.
Attempting to run modern software on legacy hardware not only hampers performance but also leaves critical security gaps. Without the underlying hardware support, you can’t fully leverage the advanced protections that new operating systems offer, leaving your organisation vulnerable to cyberattacks.
How modern PCs help build a secure foundation
Threat actors are persistent, often targeting a single PC a dozen times throughout its lifespan – but today’s commercial PCs are engineered to be a first line of defence in a zero-trust world. They integrate security features directly into the hardware and firmware, below the operating system layer. This provides a more resilient defence against attacks that aim to compromise software protections.
Consider the journey of a PC before it even reaches an employee. Supply chain security is a growing concern, with threats of tampering possible at any point from sourcing and manufacturing to shipping and delivery.
Modern PCs from trusted vendors can include optional advanced supply chain security measures such as a digital certificate created in the factory that allows organisations to verify component integrity and safeguard against tampering. This supply chain assurance helps ensure the device arrives in its intended state, free from malicious modifications.
Furthermore, features like BIOS and firmware verification as well as early attack indicators can help to keep the device secure and tamper-free while in use. Credential security is also a critical need. Secure storage of end-user credentials can go a long way in protecting against identity attacks, one of the biggest challenges for organisations today.
A refresh strategy for a resilient future
According to a recent study, legacy systems consume up to 80% of annual IT budgets globally and businesses spend an average of $30-million maintaining each legacy system. According to BusinessLive, the cost of legacy systems is also a major challenge for South African organisations, as maintaining them absorbs IT budgets and creates spiralling technical debt.
Viewing your PC refresh as part of your security strategy helps build a more resilient and productive organisation. It’s an opportunity to empower your people with the tools they need to do their best work, securely and efficiently. A planned, proactive refresh cycle allows you to align your technology with your business goals, moving from a reactive, break-fix model to a strategic, secure one.
This approach delivers tangible benefits. It reduces the burden on IT teams, who can spend less time patching vulnerabilities on legacy systems and more time driving innovation. It improves employee experience, as new devices offer better performance and secure access to corporate resources. Most importantly, it strengthens your overall security posture against an ever-evolving threat landscape.
As we focus on cybersecurity awareness, we encourage business leaders to look at their PC fleet through a new lens. See it not as a collection of devices, but as a key component of your security strategy. By investing in modern PCs, you are not just buying new hardware. You are building a more secure, productive and resilient future for your organisation.