Navigate the Global Memory Shortage with Smarter Planning and Refresh Strategies

Learn to manage and mitigate supply constraints with detailed device analytics and optimization recommendations.

If you’re leading an IT team today, you’re probably feeling the pressure from multiple fronts: tighter budgets, skill shortages, higher expectations for employee experience, and an economic environment that feels increasingly unpredictable. And now component shortages and supply constraints may be adding to that pressure.  

You’ve likely started to hear about a global memory shortage, largely due to increased demand to meet the needs of AI infrastructure. This has led to supply constraints, longer lead times, and price increases across the tech industry. Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix on the horizon, and industry experts warn that this market situation is likely to persist through 2026 and into 2027.  

How HP is Responding to Ongoing Memory Constraints 

HP is taking decisive steps to reduce the impact of ongoing memory shortages and AI-driven demand for our customers, including: 

• Diversifying our supply chain to stabilize availability of memory for our products 
• Offering more flexible configurations to help customers navigate supply constraints 
• Working closely with customers to provide greater transparency around availability, lead times, and pricing 
• Continuing to invest in memory-efficient system design and AI-driven management to reduce future risk 

For IT teams managing thousands of endpoints, this situation makes proactive device management and refresh decisions more critical than ever.  Taking a more deliberate approach that focuses on understanding real-world usage, assessing memory needs, and addressing software bottlenecks before replacing hardware can provide the opportunity to make your whole organization more resilient in the face of market fluctuations, both now and in the future. Even once the memory shortage is resolved, organizations must remain durable to disruptions, constraints, and cost volatility that may emerge in future cycles.  

That’s where a smarter, more data-driven refresh strategy comes into play. 

Optimize First: Identify and Remediate Memory
Bottlenecks Before Replacing Devices 

When memory is in short supply, replacing hardware on a standardized timeline or at the first sign of performance issues is an expensive habit. It also doesn’t always solve the real problem. Slowdowns and crashes that look like memory shortages can sometimes be caused by applications, configuration issues, or unusual usage patterns. By using a more modern endpoint management solution, IT teams can pinpoint the root cause and avoid unnecessary replacements.  

The first step is visibility. You need a clear view into where memory pressure is showing up, how often it occurs, and who it impacts. That context makes it much easier to separate true capacity limitations from issues that can be resolved through optimization. 

Clarify the Root Cause of Performance Problems 

With live device analytics and anomaly detection provided by the HP Workforce Experience Platform (WXP),¹ you can see memory utilization alongside other performance signals. Anomaly models explicitly watch CPU, GPU, memory, and temperature, and identify non-standard deviations, patterns like sustained high memory usage, recurring spikes tied to specific applications, or performance degradation that only appears under certain conditions. From there, you can choose the best path forward, because optimization becomes a targeted exercise rather than guesswork.  

By using Fleet Explorer, a feature in WXP that enables you to query your device analytics in plain language, you can evaluate the condition of your fleet and set priorities. For example, you can: 

• Identify devices with sustained high memory utilization, where the top memory-consuming applications are not standard productivity tools, and rank by frequency and the number of impacted users. 

• Break down memory usage by application version, device configuration, memory capacity, operating system build, or user role to see whether the issue is capacity-driven or anomaly-driven. 

• Identify the top offending applications, the impacted user cohort, and recommended remediation for each, and prioritize remediations based on measurable impact targets. 

See how this works in the Friday Double Click video below. 

This kind of analysis often reveals that a relatively small number of applications or configurations are responsible for a disproportionate share of memory pressure. Addressing those issues through updates, configuration changes, or software remediation can relieve performance problems without touching the hardware at all. 

Automate Remediation to Provide Support at Scale 

Automation also plays an important role, and WXP can help here too. When remediation steps are repeatable, IT teams can automate the deployment of fixes, updates, or alternative software at scale, reducing manual effort.  

In a memory-constrained market, this optimization-first mindset is essential. By resolving what can be fixed before replacing what cannot, you can reduce unnecessary spend and keep users productive while making more deliberate decisions about where refresh is truly required. 

Provision Memory Based on Real Employee Usage, not Assumptions

Once obvious bottlenecks have been addressed, the next challenge is deciding how much memory users actually need. In many organizations, those decisions are still driven by broad assumptions: a standard configuration for everyone, an automatic RAM upgrade “just in case,” or a refresh policy that treats all roles the same. In a constrained market, those habits become costly very quickly. 

A more sustainable approach is to base memory decisions on how devices are actually used. In environments with mixed user personas, WXP enables IT teams to look at real usage patterns across roles, teams, and applications, so you can move away from onesizefitsall provisioning and toward configurations that better match daytoday demands. 

Stop Overprovisioning: Use Data-driven Insight into Actual Needs 

Usage data shows that overprovisioning is common. In HP’s own environment, analysis found that more than one in four employees were using devices with more memory than their workloads really required. When that insight is applied across a broad fleet, it creates an opportunity to reduce unnecessary upgrades with little to no impact on the employee experience. 

Rightsizing memory also supports smarter deployment and redeployment decisions. Devices with higher memory configurations can be prioritized for users or roles that consistently run memoryintensive applications, while other devices can be reassigned to users with lighter requirements. This flexibility helps stretch existing inventory further, which is especially valuable when new devices are harder to source or slower to arrive. 

Balance Cost Control with Check-ins on Employee Experience 

Of course, rightsizing isn’t just about minimizing cost. It’s equally important to make sure performance and employee experience don’t suffer. Regularly measuring user sentiment and correlating it with performance data, which in WXP is easy to set up and automate, helps confirm that memory configurations are meeting real needs. When issues do surface, teams have the context they need to act quickly and adjust without waiting for the next refresh cycle. 

By grounding memory decisions in evidence rather than assumptions, you can strike a better balance between performance, cost, and availability—one that holds up even as market conditions remain uncertain. 

Base Device Refresh Strategy on Performance, not Age 

When memory is constrained and prices are volatile, it’s tempting to take the simplest path: extend refresh cycles across the board and hope conditions improve. While that may reduce short-term pressure, it also introduces risk. Aging devices don’t fail evenly, and a blanket delay can leave the users who rely most on their devices struggling with performance issues that directly affect productivity. 

On the flip side, using inflexible age milestones to automatically trigger replacement is a dated strategy. A more effective approach is to base refresh decisions on how devices are performing, not how long they’ve been in service. By monitoring real-world performance against pre-set experience thresholds, you can identify which devices are genuinely disrupting work and which ones are still meeting expectations, even if they’re past a traditional refresh milestone. 

This approach makes refresh decisions easier to defend. When budgets are under scrutiny, being able to point to clear evidence—sustained performance issues, repeated incidents, or experience thresholds being crossed—helps justify why some devices need to be replaced now while others do not. It shifts the conversation from “it’s time” to “this device is affecting work.” 

Flexible Refresh Strategies Improve Resilience 

There’s a longer-term benefit as well. Learning to adjust your refresh strategy makes your organization more resilient and agile overall. Refresh cadence can be adjusted for not only market conditions, but also to fit budget plans and organizational changes from quarter to quarter.

With more accurate data, along with AI-driven analysis and remediations, refresh cycles can be far more precise. Replacing devices only when needed also avoids the disruption of switching out machines employees are happy with and are still working well. Different refresh scenarios can be modeled in WXP, which shows the overall impact of each approach. Over time, this can reduce unnecessary spend, support sustainability goals by keeping functional devices in use, and still offer predictability in resource planning. More flexibility gives you more levers to pull when the next crisis arises and you need to respond quickly.  

Take the Pressure Off Your IT Team with Expert Help 

Even with the right data and tools in place, managing new memory constraints and reassessing refresh strategy adds real overhead for IT teams that are already stretched thin.  

This is where expert help can make a meaningful difference. Working with HP Managed Services or qualified partners allows IT teams to offload some of the day-to-day tasks and focus their energy on higher-value work, by helping:  

• Assess and Diagnose Issues: Through refresh assessments and ongoing monitoring, expert teams can help identify where optimization is likely to deliver results, where devices can remain in service longer, and where replacement is unavoidable. This support can help avoid unnecessary spending while reducing the risk of performance issues that disrupt users or critical workflows. 

• Compare Against Benchmarks and Industry Expectations: Managed Services teams have had the benefit of learning from large device fleets across multiple organizations, and HP has also done internal benchmark testing to determine the impact of different memory configurations on various personas and their typical workflows. Rather than relying on ad hoc decisions or tribal knowledge, we can help establish data-driven, repeatable processes for evaluating memory pressure, prioritizing interventions, and adjusting refresh strategies as conditions change.  

• Focus on Strategy, not Maintenance: In a market defined by uncertainty, expert support isn’t about giving up control. It’s about reducing noise, improving decision quality, and making sure limited time and resources are focused where they matter most. 

Consider Second Life Devices to Help Offset Replacement Costs 

When memory supply is constrained and hardware costs are rising, getting more value out of existing assets becomes increasingly important. Device refurbishment and recycling programs like HP IT Asset Disposition can help organizations recover residual value from older or surplus devices and apply it toward replacements or future purchases. 

Incorporating trade-ins into a broader refresh strategy also supports more intentional lifecycle management. Devices that are no longer a good fit for one role don’t have to sit idle—they can be responsibly reused, refurbished, or recycled, helping organizations control costs while meeting sustainability and data-handling requirements. 

On the flip side, selecting HP Certified Refurbished PCs can provide a no-compromise, lower-cost alternative to purchasing new, and might be helpful in reducing refresh costs..  

Modernize Device Management and Build Resilience 

A global memory shortage may feel like a new challenge, but it’s actually part of a familiar pattern. Supply constraints, pricing volatility, and sudden shifts in demand have surfaced repeatedly over the years. What’s different this time is the scale and persistence of the pressure, driven in large part by AI-related demand and structural changes in the market. 

For IT teams, the lesson isn’t to wait for conditions to return to “normal.” It’s to adapt how device fleets are managed so future disruptions are easier to absorb. By optimizing first, provisioning memory based on real usage, and refreshing devices based on performance rather than age alone, organizations can reduce risk without sacrificing user experience. Taken together, these practices help IT leaders move from reactive decisions to deliberate ones.  

Whether you’re reassessing your refresh strategy, looking for better visibility into device performance, or exploring alternatives to traditional provisioning, now is a good time to step back and take stock. Building resilience into device management today can help your organization stay steady through this cycle and come out better prepared for the next one. 

HP can help you get the insights you need to analyse memory utilization and adjust your refresh strategy for the best return on your IT investments, with special offers combining WXP and supporting services available for a limited time. To learn more about how HP can support you in smarter device management and refresh planning, talk with your HP representative or reach out using the form below. 

Additional Resources 

Global Memory Shortage 2026: Manage PC Memory Constraints  

HP Workforce Computing – PC Services for Hybrid Work 

HP IT Asset Disposition  

HP Certified Refurbished PCs 

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