The floppy disc. Dial-up modems. The electronic typewriter.

At one point in time, each of these was an essential tool for most businesses. But now, they’re all long gone—obsolete.

As technology evolves and our workplaces change, once-useful tools can quickly gather dust.

All companies look to make sure their tech budgets are wisely spent. Here are a few common devices your business can probably live without:

CD/DVD Devices
Virtually all business software used today can be downloaded from the Internet. Likewise, if your employees need to view training videos or watch recorded conferences, online streaming is now the distribution method of choice. Many computers don’t even include a CD drive anymore, especially if your office relies on Macs. There are plenty of secure, easy ways to transfer large documents online.

But what happens when you’ve cut CD/ DVD drives from your next office computer acquisition and suddenly need to open a file on a DVD?

Easy, get one or two external CD/DVD drives to share inside your office. Plug one into a USB port on your computer and you can instantly read and burn discs again.

Personal printers
Today’s workspaces are wired for connectivity. Our computers are networked, our files are shared, and everyone can send documents to a central workhorse printer.

But wait, a handful of people in your office probably have personal printers on their desks, right? Unless there is a disability issue requiring a desktop printer, these devices are typically just expensive status symbols.

Having a bevy of personal printers means higher service costs, additional supply expenses, and more money spent on equipment as those individual printers need to be replaced.

Plus, people tend to print less waste when they know they have to get up from their desk to retrieve documents.

It’s past time to remove this pricy printing privilege from your office and save on toner and paper costs.

Desktop speakers
There’s no doubt about it, desktop speakers are still great computer accessories. Today’s desktop speakers sound better than ever, and they’ve come down in cost, too. They are far from obsolete.

The problem is that they no longer fit into the modern work environment.

As more and more businesses transition to open workspaces for their employees, noisy desktop speakers are becoming more of a nuisance than a productivity tool.

Rather than spend on speakers, headphones are less distracting for coworkers and a more cost efficient option for employees who regularly need to listen to audio on their computers.