What’s the Ideal Backup Device Ratio for a Small Organization?

For a company of your size, I’d suggest keeping a spare laptop ready to go. If that one ends up getting used, just get management’s approval to buy a new one to replace it. Always good to keep track of hardware lifecycles and replace them as necessary. Too many spares can lead to messy data management and unnecessary storage issues.

With a small team, I'd try to keep one (or possibly two) newer machines ready to go as backup. It's also wise to hold onto a few retired devices just in case something unexpected happens. Don't forget about having some spare components, even though they can be a bit tricky to find.

I’d recommend having two retired devices that you've wiped clean and set up as backups. When you buy new ones, you can cycle the old ones out. Make sure to have a replacement schedule—maybe swap them out when they hit 5 or 6 years old, depending on their specs.

We have around 80 office users and 20 computers on the shop floor. We typically keep about 10 retired machines as spares since they still work even if they're not top-notch anymore—these help us cover when someone’s PC is out of commission. For shop machines, we aim for 2-3 spare units ready to go as replacements. We also purchase extended warranties to get 4-5 years of use from our machines, except the engineering ones, which seem to last about 3.5 years.

For a small setup like yours, having 1 or 2 spare PCs could really help avoid issues down the line. Keeping even one new device on the shelf is a smart move, just in case.