I believe in paying for a quality product that protects and extends the life of your assets, which is why third party maintenance (TPM) is a great alternative to what original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) offer.
Let’s look at the facts:
An OEM’s business is built around selling hardware. When an OEM approaches customers, it does not talk about extending the life of the customer’s current hardware. Instead, it will discuss why customers should move to the latest and greatest hardware that they have for sale. The sales reps for these OEMs get paid to sell that new hardware, so they push expensive and unnecessary refreshes.
According to Gartner, 80% of total IT costs occur after the initial purchase. This price increase is primarily due to high maintenance costs imposed on organizations by the OEMs. Prices of OEM maintenance can increase up to 70% each year, making it easy for these companies to force customers to buy new equipment.
In addition to increasing the price of maintenance year after year, OEMs have an End of Service Life (EOSL) policy that indicates the end of services and updates for equipment. Once equipment reaches EOSL, the OEM will no longer sell, provide updates, or renew hardware support on these systems. If your current equipment is EOSL, your OEM maintenance costs can skyrocket to over 100% per year! To learn more about EOSL equipment, read our blog here.
So how is third party maintenance better than OEM support?
Rather than increase your costs by 70%, TPM can lower your costs up to 70%. So, that’s a good start… by the way, the cost of maintenance will not go up year over year for the same level of service. Why would it? TPM providers are not in the business of selling new hardware you don’t need!
Let’s talk about flexibility
OEMs typically have rigid contract terms and do not allow for short term agreements (3 months, 6 months, etc.), whereas TPM providers offer short term contracts with monthly and quarterly options. This flexibility gives customers the ability to add items as they fall off expensive OEM contracts. For those moving to the cloud, flexible short-term contracts also make it easier to decommission and remove assets from maintenance contracts as needed.
Why ReluTech?
We offer our customers a customized solution for their specific needs; spare parts to stock (onsite or offsite), flexible SLAs designed around the customer’s timetable, the ability to support multiple manufacturers, and technicians who have worked on multiple generations of hardware.
Don’t buy equipment when your current environment is running great! Pay for your specific needs and don’t overpay for unnecessary services. Do what’s best for your company, not what’s best for the OEM!
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