Dicker Data Urges IT Partners to Prioritize AI Readiness
The firm is calling on IT partners to guide clients toward modernized hardware and secure AI-ready infrastructure foundations.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Dicker Data is advising IT partners to help customers transition to modern hardware to support new AI capabilities. This guidance aims to address common gaps in governance, compliance, and security frameworks as organizations adopt hybrid intelligence.
Why it matters
Many clients seek AI solutions without understanding the necessary infrastructure prerequisites. Modernizing legacy hardware is critical to avoiding performance issues and ensuring that businesses can effectively leverage new tools like Microsoft's Copilot.
There are currently 500,000 devices requiring updates to Windows 11, while over three million commercial machines exceed four years of age. These older units often fail to support modern software requirements, leading to diminished productivity.
The players
Ben Johnson
He serves as the general manager of marketing and strategy for Dicker Data in Australia and New Zealand.
Dicker Data
This organization operates as a prominent technology hardware and software distributor.
Microsoft
This technology corporation develops the Windows operating system and the Copilot AI platform.
The details
Running current applications on devices older than four years frequently results in poor user experiences. Partners are encouraged to frame hardware refreshes around the productivity benefits of AI-ready foundations rather than simple replacement needs.
Timeline
Windows 10 officially reached its end of life in October 2025.
Keynote insights regarding AI and hardware strategy were published on October 22, 2026.
The Tech Race
This push for hardware modernization follows the implementation of Microsoft's Copilot hybrid intelligence framework, which demands higher performance standards than legacy systems. It represents a broader industry shift where software innovation forces a mandatory refresh of outdated hardware fleets.
Businesses using devices older than four years should expect potential performance bottlenecks and compatibility issues with new AI tools. Upgrading these systems is necessary to unlock productivity improvements and maintain a secure software environment.
The takeaway
IT managers should conduct an audit of their current hardware fleets to identify systems that cannot support modern AI requirements. Prioritizing updates for aging devices will prevent future disruptions and align operational capacity with new software capabilities.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by ARN.
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Is now the right time for businesses to prioritize upgrading aging hardware and IT infrastructure?
