Planning your IT refresh before 2026 deadlines

Why this is not an optional upgrade cycle

• Windows 10 no longer receives security updates, and unsupported endpoints fail Cyber Essentials
• The PSTN and ISDN switch-off is removing analogue telephony infrastructure on a fixed national timetable
• Ageing network hardware cannot support full fibre speeds or modern Wi-Fi standards reliably
• Cyber insurers increasingly decline claims where unsupported software contributed to an incident

Audit before you buy anything

List every device, its age, specification and what it is used for. Identify anything running an unsupported operating system, anything on end-of-life network hardware, and anything tied to specialist software that needs testing before it moves to new infrastructure. This audit consistently takes longer than the actual deployment, and rushing it is where refresh projects go wrong.

Where to prioritise spend

• Endpoints running unsupported operating systems, for compliance and insurance reasons alone
• Core network switches and access points that cannot support current Wi-Fi standards or full fibre bandwidth
• On-premise phone systems reliant on ISDN or analogue lines ahead of the switch-off deadline
• Servers approaching end of manufacturer support, particularly anything holding backups

Cloud-first replacements worth considering during a refresh

• Windows 365 Cloud PCs instead of replacing every ageing desktop like-for-like
• A cloud phone system instead of a new on-premise PBX
• Managed Wi-Fi and switching instead of unmanaged consumer-grade network hardware
• Cloud backup and disaster recovery instead of an ageing on-premise backup server

Budgeting and timing it properly

Spread the refresh across a defined window, prioritised by risk rather than by department preference, and build in lead time for hardware procurement, which can run into months for anything non-standard. Refresh projects planned six to twelve months ahead cost noticeably less than the same project attempted in the final quarter before a deadline, because rushed procurement and expedited delivery both carry a premium.

Using the refresh to fix things you meant to fix anyway

A hardware refresh is the cheapest point to standardise builds with Intune, enforce disk encryption and MFA by default, retire local admin rights, and clean up licensing. Doing this work alongside new hardware means touching each device once rather than twice.