If the hardware in your data center stopped operating properly, the end result would be nothing short of a catastrophe for your business. The daily operations would slow to a standstill, your clients would get frustrated and ultimately, your profits would start to dive.
This is why keeping your hardware in top-notch shape is key to your success.
When it comes to maintenance and support, most companies go down two well-established routes:
- An expensive, yet limited extended warranty provided by the OEM
- In-house troubleshooting and maintenance
These aren’t the most favorable of options as they’re both expensive and lack the additional advantages you can experience by choosing another option - a third-party maintenance provider.
Now, you’re probably wondering what are these benefits we’re speaking of. Well, we’re happy to oblige by listing them all here. Here goes:
- Increased lifespan of your IT assets
The fact that IT hardware has a limited lifespan is something all companies have to live with. Simply put, everyone is at the mercy of OEMs who artificially shorten the lifespan of IT equipment with end-of-life (EOL) and end-of-service life (EOSL) updates.
That is, until now.
Third-party maintenance providers such as Dataknox are on your side. We understand that arbitrary updates have nothing to do with asset performance or operability. In fact, OEMs usually just want you to dish out some serious cash to upgrade to a new IT asset.
If you’d rather extend the lifespan of your hardware long past the EOSL date, a third-party maintenance provider is the way to go.
- More control of your IT spending
Manufacturers don’t really consider the needs of your organization because their main goal is getting you to upgrade to fancy new gear as often as possible. As stated previously, once you extend the life of your IT assets, you won’t have to conform to the OEMs timetable for updates.
With a third-party maintenance provider, you can prolong your hardware refreshes and upgrade at your leisure.
Because you’ll adhere only to your schedule, you can time your upgrades to better suit the needs of your organization. More importantly, you’ll gain additional time to ensure you have the necessary budget to purchase the assets you need - instead of settling for inferior hardware because you don’t have enough funds.
- Money savings
There’s no beating around the bush here: the OEM extended warranty support costs a lot of money. For instance, an average company might spend upwards of tens of thousand dollars a year per asset.
That’s not the case with third-party maintenance. For example, with Dataknox you’ll save anywhere between 40% to even 90% on average when compared to traditional OEM support.
With all the money you’ll save, you can inject new capital into other areas of your business, rather than spending it all on your data center.
- More flexible agreements
One of the major problems with OEM support is the lack of customizability. This means that you might get locked in a contract where you pay for services that you don’t actually need.
On the other hand, we offer different kinds of service level agreements that can be customized to cater to the specific needs of your organization. You can always add to the original agreement, for instance, if you need advanced features like remote monitoring.
The same flexibility also extends to the duration of the contract. If you only need short-term coverage, third-party maintenance is the best option for you. This can come in handy if you want to cover a warranty gap while you’re migrating to the cloud.
- Single point of contact
If you ever needed to deal with multiple OEM warranties, you’re well aware of a logistical conundrum that can be.
Because you have a separate contract for every asset in your company, even determining which manufacturer to contact can be a nightmare. It’s even worse if you happen to encounter a problem that cascades throughout the entire system.
Through third-party maintenance, you can co-term your hardware and have a single point of contact for maintenance, regardless of the piece of equipment that starts acting up.
- Improved access to crucial spare parts
If your IT asset malfunctioned right now, it would probably take a laughably long time for a manufacturer to ship you the necessary parts. To make matters worse, if you don’t have the in-house talent to install the parts, it might take a few weeks to fix a crucial piece of hardware.
To avoid this situation, we recommend you contact a third-party maintenance provider.
Some providers offer next business day part replacement, and some have a large number of forward-stocking locations. But even better, some offer spare kits that allow you to store spare parts on-site.
- Next-level customer support and experience
Another area where third-party maintenance providers win is the support experience. This is because our business model is purely client-centric and is focused exclusively on customer support. As a result, all maintenance processes are streamlined.
Everyone, from engineers to sales reps, is working around the clock to keep their customers happy and their data centers running smoothly.
Let’s say you have to talk to an engineer. Third-party maintenance providers offer multiple ways to communicate, with engineers always ready to answer questions without any waiting time. This is a stark contrast to the experience you get with an OEM. Let’s just say you’ll have to wait a long time as they escalate an issue before even talking to an actual engineer, reducing the possibility of providing a proper and timely solution.
The support we offer is just a lot faster, to put it bluntly. We will answer phone calls and respond to chat requests within seconds. You will also never run into a situation where you’re talking to someone from an international call center or listening to an automated response.
This brings us to…
- A sense of a real relationship
Whenever you call an OEM, you’ll most likely speak to a different person every time. This means you’ll never be able to connect with them on a personal level.
With a third-party maintenance provider, you’ll get to work with your dedicated account representative. You can look at this representative as a true business partner as they’ll go through every step of the process with you.
Their job is to solve your problems with the big picture in mind: what your organization needs and what is the state of assets in your data center.
- Quick assistance during downtime
Downtime can often be a scramble for survival as you might not have the time to go through the status of your warranty.
We understand that you need quick assistance, which is why we offer professional services that are expertly created to solve critical issues. Even if you don’t have a preexisting service agreement, we can still help you because we can bill our services as time and materials per hour.
A major advantage here is the ability to provide help both remotely and on-site. If you have in-house IT technicians, they can work with our tier IV engineers. In the case you lack the necessary in-house expertise, our engineers will get to you ASAP:
- Repurposing old equipment
Even though trading in your equipment is a viable option, you can still benefit a lot from keeping your old assets operational. A third-party maintenance provider can provide you with the guidelines and help you repurpose your out-of-date equipment so you can use it for something else.
For instance, your old gear can find a new purpose as a backup or a DR system.
The service your organization deserves
OEMs are outdated and a waste of money. On the other hand, going at it alone without coverage and ignoring your maintenance needs would be tempting fate. The truth is that third-party maintenance is the only favorable option if you want a good quality-to-price ratio.
Ultimately, the biggest advantage of a more personal third-party approach might be the peace of mind you’ll get when you make the switch.
These are all the benefits you and your organization deserve, and it’s never too late to secure the deal that will save you from peril and help you thrive.
Contact Dataknox now to receive a free quote, so we can get to work right away!
