Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) supply thousands of enterprises with equipment, hardware and software to improve business processes, communications and productivity. While they may offer the best equipment, when it comes to offering maintenance solutions for these products, they may not be the best option.
Maintenance programs for OEM equipment can be costly. For many companies, turning to an OEM is a best-fit solution. For businesses that don’t offer a one-size-fits-all maintenance plan, however, money can be wasted by turning to OEMs for maintenance. They use their maintenance business as a profit center – before Oracle (News - Alert) purchased Sun Microsystems, it generated well over 80 percent of its profits from maintenance and licensing.
Worldwide Supply operates in the secondary hardware marketplace, offering telecom and network solutions for and from a number of manufacturers and equipment types. Its NetGuard maintenance program, which was originally created to offer an alternative maintenance solution to Cisco (News - Alert) SMARTnet, now supports the needs of clients with multi-manufacturer equipment.
NetGuard offers solutions for manufacturers including Juniper, Arris, Motrola, Alcatel-Lucent, ADTRAN, Fujitsu, Ciena, Tellabs, Nortel (News - Alert), Brocade and Dell. Some of the hardware NetGuard covers includes routers, switches, access servers, CMTS equipment, network security hardware, wireless devices, IP telephony and optical hardware.
“We’re thrilled to be able to help companies who are exploring ways to reduce the cost of their existing maintenance plans save 30 percent to 50 percent on total network maintenance,” said Jay VanOrden, CEO of Worldwide Supply, in a statement. “The number of NetGuard requests we’re processing for not only Cisco but for various other manufacturers’ equipment confirms that now more than ever, our clients have a need to maximize return-on-investment of existing hardware.”
Another provider of alternative IT maintenance solutions is XS International. It provides alternative IT maintenance solutions for Cisco, Dell (News - Alert), IBM, Brocade, Sun/Oracle, F5 Networks, Enterasys and more to extend the life of IT equipment without the expense or inflexibility of an OEM service.
Edited by Blaise McNamee