A Marathon, not a Sprint – Keeping your Systems running

It’s Olympic year and a rich summer of sport lies ahead. While many eyes will be on the 100m athletics final, we will be thinking about the marathon. This is because we understand that, in business, critical systems need to keep going. Business computing is more like a marathon: it’s a long-term investment and it requires sustained effort.

Your systems need to keep running, day and night, year in year out. They must function all the time, as service interruptions cost money. But of course like marathon runners, they need periodic refreshment. Com-Com’s unique expertise can help. Our services enable you to keep valuable systems running. We make sure that you receive prompt service and deliver updates, spares and services when they are needed to guarantee service performance.

High-performance computers need regular maintenance, just like an athlete. By auditing and reviewing your needs, we can make sure they deliver optimum performance for the long-haul. Our friendly and approachable team act like stewards, helping keep valuable IT infrastructure on track and ensuring they maintain peak condition.

But if anything does happen, we guarantee to sprint to the rescue, minimising down-time and putting your systems back on track so that they can continue operation, with minimal disruption. Our flexible SLA terms mean you get the service you need, when you need it. You never know what lies ahead, so we keep pace with your needs to make sure your systems keep running.

Keeping your Systems Stable

Bull computers are built for high-performance computing and mission critical applications. They have a world-wide reputation for stability and exceptional performance. But while you can rely on their performance, what happens when the warranty period for your essential hardware expires?

Manufacturers continue to innovate – they offer new systems and new solutions, but simply replacing a fully-functioning system that has been integrated into your network may not be an option.

It’s expensive to replace a fully-functioning system. It’s not just the capital costs involved in purchasing new hardware, there’s the cost of integration and commissioning. There’s the disruption and inconvenience of managing what will almost certainly be a significant project.

Worse, solutions that are working just fine may have been subject to end-of-life notices, meaning that support is no longer available from the manufacturer. Or, if support options are available, they could be too costly to be viable. What can you do if you are running essential applications on a Bull platform that is no longer supported?

That’s where we come in. We can offer full support and maintenance packages for high-performance solutions from Bull, enabling you to sustain your systems and ensure they keep running.

By choosing Com-Com as your support and maintenance partner, you can enjoy many benefits. We offer excellent terms for supporting out-of-warranty solutions and, best of all, in the event that you need any replacement hardware, our unrivalled access to spare parts enables us to maintain systems and extend their working life to suit your organisation and budget. If your Bull systems are working fine, doing their job and continuing to deliver performance, why change anything – except your support partner?

Renewal time approaches…

Make sure you get the best maintenance for your IT budget

With the financial year-end fast approaching it’s that time of year when IT maintenance contracts come up for renewal.

With more than 20 years of business behind us we’ve seen a lot of changes in the industry and one of the main things we have noticed is how the continuing pressure on IT budgets has changed the way IT departments deal with the annual maintenance renewal process.

The end of the automatic renewal

Manufacturer maintenance has long been perceived to be the gold-standard for support. After all, who better to maintain your equipment than the guys who built it? They have the source code, the BoM and the R&D department and while it might not be the cheapest option, support from the manufacturer guarantees peace of mind.

Nowadays, the average IT department has to account for every penny they spend. With every cost up for review, and savings of up to 40% a year on the table, maintenance and support renewals are an obvious place where cut-backs can be made.

So, what if you could get a better level of service at a better price from an alternative supplier?

The third party alternative

More and more companies are turning to specialist third parties like Com-Com to maintain their mission-critical IT infrastructure. Unlike manufacturers, who have a vested interest in selling new IT equipment, third party maintainers, such as Com-Com, concentrate solely on keeping your equipment running.

Where a manufacturer is keen to phase out old equipment and move customers on to new products, a good third party maintainer focuses on extending the life of your existing equipment, breaking the three-year replacement cycle so that you can squeeze the maximum return from your equipment investments.

With IT budgets under increasing pressure, IT managers are seeking to get more value from their maintenance contracts. They are looking for keener pricing, more flexibility and a friendlier, more personalised service. Third party maintainers are able to offer a personalised level of service that few vendors are able to match: flexible billing, allocated engineers, multi-vendor support and end-of-life support.

Com-Com have been maintaining mission critical systems across the UK for more than 20 years and have formed long lasting partnerships with clients in retail, local and central government, utilities, healthcare, finance and many other industries.

Get more bang for your buck at renewal time

At renewal time these companies choose Com-Com for the great value, service and flexibility that we offer:

  • Cost Savings – Save 30% – 40% on manufacturer support prices.
  • Service - A more personalised, flexible approach from a company that cares.
  • Multi-vendor – Simplify your administration and reduce your costs with a single source of support for all your servers, storage and operating systems.
  • Flexibility – Get a contract for the period you need. Add and remove equipment when you need.

We’ve been delivering value for more than 20 years and have never lost a customer on a support issue.

OR - Call us on 0845 643 1180.

Contact us now to see how we can help you with your maintenance and get a little bit more from your IT budget in 2012.