Monthly Archives: December 2011

What to look for in an IT maintenance partner

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Choosing an IT maintenance company is a complex thing and there are many issues to consider. The relative importance of these issues depends to some extent on the nature of your business but a quick response and problem turnaround time is critical for most businesses.

Most support companies will provide you with a service level agreement (SLA). This SLA sets out precisely what you can expect from your maintainer and will provide the details of the response times you will receive. A typical SLA will promise something like a four hour response time during business hours. If you needed a faster response over a longer period, for example a two hour response twenty four hours a day, you would need to provide this specification at the outset and ensure that your maintainer can reach such a high standard.

Once you’ve agreed a suitable SLA, it’s important to be sure that your support company has expertise in your chosen technology. If you have a room full of IBM servers, then you need to speak to a company who specialises in IBM maintenance, if you have a mixed environment then it’s sensible to partner with a company who can provide support for a range of platforms. With the right SLA and the right expertise you should have the basis of a successful relationship.

Something that many people overlook though (and which is hard to quantify) is the personal relationships that make these engagements work. Here at Com-Com, we pride ourselves on the personal relationships that we develop with our customers, we make sure that customers get to know their allocated engineer and try to provide a constant point of contact for as long as we can. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve not lost a customer to a support issue since we started in 1989.

Your IT Assets Can Last Longer Than You Think

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The recession has changed the way IT departments think about their equipment. In the past it was common for an IT department to throw away a server as soon as the manufacturer’s warranty ended. This made some sense. Extended warranties from manufacturers are notoriously expensive as they simply want you to buy new equipment and besides, the money was usually available.

Not any more. Nowadays IT departments have to ‘sweat’ their assets. This means they have to hold on to them for longer than before and increase the lifespan of their equipment from the usual three to five years or longer. In order to do this, many companies are increasingly turning to the services of specialist third party maintenance companies who can offer a full support service at a fraction of the cost of the original manufacturer.

The days when equipment could be swapped out on the stroke of three years seems to be behind us. Now, when every penny has to be carefully accounted for it’s more likely that IT departments seek post-warranty support. The key thing to remember here is that the manufacturer is not the only option and in the long term could cost more.