But Haser is in a majority because, as he says, "Everyone is doingit."

Indeed, according to a recent CIO survey of 187 informationexecutives, 77 percent are purchasing secondary market equipment, and46 percent expect to increase their spending in that area next year byan average of 15 percent. (To see the entire survey, go to"Second-Hand IT".)

Forty-one percent cited lower capital costs as their primary reasonfor going used, which isn't surprising. The economics of used gear ishard to ignore. Samuel Brooks, MIS director of Keystone PropertyManagement in Mount Pleasant, Mich., relies on the used market to getequipment he says he otherwise couldn't afford. His most recent dealwas a $10,000 DellDell file server that he got for $3,000. Asked if hischairman recognized him, the way Haser's had, Brooks says, "Nope. Nowthat they see this channel, they expect me to be there." Alles zu Dell auf CIO.de

Even more significant, 30 percent of survey respondents said thatthey're there because the performance of new equipment simply doesn'tjustify its expense. Last year's hardware, it seems, will run thisyear's applications perfectly well.

Haser says that he had assumed that the secondary market was litteredwith Jurassic hardware that wouldn't support his applications.Instead, he's buying used gear to support an SAPSAP upgrade. Alles zu SAP auf CIO.de