Switching to Third Party Hardware Maintenance: Is It Worth It?

Reducing costs is a perpetual matter for every business and every individual department of a business conglomerate. Managers are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs while keeping the quality of products and services the same. This often calls for an analysis of what areas eat up the maximum budget, and the IT department often ends up bagging a high rank in that list of analysis.

 

Computers are not just expensive to buy, but to maintain too. They require constant attention, for even a small snag can bring in a damaging slowdown. That is why most firms often avoid a no-frills approach when it comes to spending on their IT departments. This often leads to inflated costs and unnecessary expenditures, expenditures which can be cut down with planned spending.

One area where IT departments spend a lot is hardware maintenance. Many have contracts with OEMs, who often charge more for repairs and replacements. One way to reduce costs is by bringing in a third party maintenance provider, most of which often provide services as good as OEMs, if not better. While most IT department managers employ third-party providers solely due to their lower costs, they offer many other benefits that make it worthwhile, such as:

• Better Flexibility: Most OEMs want to sell as many services and products as possible, so a part of their deals include selling more units or pushing for newer models once the old ones are past their life-cycles. Third party providers, on the other hand, offer greater flexibility in terms of support as they are willing to support a product as long as the clients wish to, long past their due dates.
• Broader Compatibility: OEMs solely deal with hardware provided by them, so they won’t touch other vendors’ hardware. So if your office employs hardware from different OEMs, buying support from those all can get clumsy and expensive. A third party hardware maintenance provider usually support a broad range of hardware irrespective of their brands, so hiring a single support provider can save considerable costs while making things easier for both you and them.