In an economic environment where IT departments are responsible for procuring technology
equipment and managing hardware and operating system support agreements, they are
faced with the challenge of meeting internal SLA’s while trying to contain an ever
increasing maintenance budget. There are options when evaluating hardware and operating
system support: The two major options being manufacturer (or OEM) maintenance and
third party maintenance providers. When considering your support and maintenance
options you need to look for reliable service while working to stay within budget.
Great Lakes Computer can help you accomplish these goals. Working directly with
manufacturers (OEMs) and third party providers, we can offer an all-encompassing
maintenance strategy while helping you save at least 30% or more on your annual
maintenance expenses.
Manufacturer Maintenance
All manufacturers offer their own maintenance programs. On x86 architectures and
mid range storage products, OEMs such as Dell, HP and IBM allow you to easily uplift
the manufacturer warranty and response times on their specific products through
ProSupport, Carepacks and ServicePacs respectively. If your environment consists
of proprietary, out of warranty or legacy products, you can go with monthly hardware
and software maintenance agreements. Various levels of support are available based
on what equipment you have and what your internal support requirements are. Vendor
support agreements for proprietary hardware, operating systems and applications
are used extensively in large datacenter environments and are one of the most costly
and labor intensive responsibilities of IT departments today.
Having a dedicated team of contract management specialists, Great Lakes Computer
will work with you and the manufacturer to ensure the correct level of support,
everything is one in one coterminous renewal date and that there aren’t any decommissioned
or unnecessary items on contract. Our proprietary renewals tracking database will
even notify you electronically of upcoming warranty expirations on commodity level
hardware. Off-loading the administrative burden of monthly or annual maintenance
contracts to our trained and experienced contract administrators at Great Lakes
Computer saves you time, money and improves the accuracy of your support agreements.
Better yet, due our volume discounts, in most cases you won’t pay anything more
for a better level of service.
Third Party Maintenance
Third party maintenance providers offer the same level expertise as the OEM’s, but
at a substantial cost savings compared to manufacturer support. The savings offered
by third party maintenance providers typically range from 30-50%. Great Lakes Computer’s
exhaustive screening process ensures that we represent only the most reputable and
well established third party maintenance companies in the country. Having strategically
partnered with a select few third party maintenance providers ensures we can offer
national coverage while maintaining a consistent standard of service that puts your
specific needs first. Unlike the intractable and more expensive manufacturer support
programs, our third party maintenance provider’s offer customized maintenance plans
that match the unique needs of your organization. Another advantage that comes from
working with Great Lakes Computer is the extended life cycles we can offer rather
than having to worry about manufacturer end of support dates or strategically coerced
technology refreshes. If you have a stable, proven environment no longer supported
by the manufacturer, a third party maintenance contract is your best, most affordable
and least disruptive option.
Leveraging Both Options
Great Lakes Computer works with you to create the right combination of manufacturer
and third party support options that addresses your hardware and software support
requirements, while minimizing your annual support costs. Our unique capabilities
allow us to create national hybrid support agreement that combines manufacturer
software and application support along with third party maintenance agreements.
This will enable you to receive the necessary operating system and software updates
that you need, while working with third party maintenance companies that drive down
your annual support costs.
To learn more or to start saving money on your annual support costs,
Contact Us
today.