To extend or not to extend? The real cost of delaying your school’s ICT refresh

The potential savings you make on a lease extension can disappear into replacement batteries, repair bills, and hours of IT support. With new device costs putting pressure on New Zealand school budgets, extending an existing ICT lease at a lower rental can look attractive. But does it genuinely improve your school’s financial position, or simply move the refresh decision into next year’s budget?

The answer starts with the devices, not just the payments.

Look beyond the rental

Gartner’s 2026 device outlook links rising memory costs to higher PC prices and warns that delayed upgrades create management and security challenges.

For schools, the practical question is what another year of use will really involve. Before extending your ICT lease, consider the following:

• Repairs and batteries: How many devices need attention, what will it cost, and will batteries last through the school day?
• IT support: Are staff spending more time troubleshooting, reconfiguring devices, or arranging repairs?
• Spare devices: Will you need a larger replacement pool to cover equipment that's out of action?
• Classroom performance: Can every device reliably run the applications students and teachers need?
• Security and support: Will operating systems, firmware, and essential software remain supported throughout the extension?
• Learning disruption: How often are slow or unavailable devices interrupting lessons?

Compare the total cost of extending with the cost of refreshing over the same planning period to understand if renewing or replacing is right for your school.

If the classroom devices in your lease are still workable for your staff and students, replacing them may not be the most suitable option at the end of your lease.

When extending makes sense

A lease ending does not automatically mean every device needs replacing. A supported fleet with healthy batteries, low repair demand, and performance suited to its classroom role may still have useful life ahead for your staff and students.

An extension should have a defined purpose, review date, and replacement budget. It might bridge a short gap before a planned rollout or retain reliable devices for less demanding tasks.

What it should not become is a default response that leaves your school facing the same decision next year, just with older equipment. Waiting also does not guarantee cheaper replacements. Test the budget against different future device prices, rather than assuming today’s extension will lead to a more affordable refresh later.

Plan device by device

The choice does not have to be extend everything or replace everything.

Quadrent can work with your school and preferred reseller to review which devices remain fit for purpose and which should be replaced. This approach creates room for a targeted approach: extend suitable equipment, prioritise replacement where reliability or support is a concern, and stage the remaining refresh around your budget and school calendar.

Our education leasing solutions connect funding with device lifecycle planning, rather than treating the lease as a standalone transaction. Leasing replacement devices spreads their cost across an agreed term, helping schools refresh without funding the full purchase price upfront.

The outcome should be about access to the right technology for learning, supported by a funding plan your school can sustain.

Make extension a considered decision

Quadrent’s consultative approach brings your budget, reseller’s technical assessment, and learning priorities into the same conversation.

Before accepting a lower extension rental, our specialist team can build a plan for your school that makes the most of devices worth keeping without postponing the replacements your classrooms need.