Third-Party Maintenance: A Straightforward Way to Save Your Equipment and Budget

Explaining the need for IT support spending isn’t always easy, not because it’s unimportant but because technology can be complex. However, third-party maintenance support is relatively straightforward and applies to any business or industry with end-of-life or end-of-service (EOS) equipment.

Third-party maintenance providers are an essential alternative to the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) support for businesses because they can save customers money. On average, CDW’s Third Party Maintenance saves customers about 60% in costs.

Let’s dive into a few essential details about third-party maintenance support and how it can save your technology and budget.

There are two primary reasons to switch to third-party maintenance support.

1. You’re looking to save money.
2. You are looking for a short-term solution. For example, your business wants to stop using a particular piece of equipment because you don’t need it anymore or plan to upgrade. You aren’t quite ready to make the shift, but you don’t want to get tied to signing up for an extended year-long warranty.

It’s like your vehicle’s base warranty running out. You have the option to extend that base warranty. If you say to yourself that you are only keeping your vehicle for a few more months, it’s not worth paying the price tag of an extended long-term warranty.

However, in IT, third-party maintenance support provides peace of mind for businesses in the event something goes wrong with your equipment. CDW Third Party Maintenance services offer short-term solutions for companies that find themselves in this exact situation. We can provide three-month support until you officially sunset your equipment or provide long-term options. And, if it breaks or technical support is needed, CDW is there to assist.

Sometimes, when things go wrong, it can cost you more to fix your equipment when it is no longer under warranty than the cost of short-term support. In some cases, businesses without coverage can incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in unanticipated expenses if their system breaks.

The average life expectancy of a maintenance contract is 18-19 months. However, that doesn’t mean the contract can’t be for less time. When you factor in transitioning to new technology, sometimes you may need more time than anticipated, but you also don’t want to commit to a full year if you complete your transition early. The flexibility CDW provides for this type of arrangement works well for that.

The most important thing you need to know is that firmware and software support are not included in break/fix support services. Only the manufacturer can provide software and firmware updates. They lock that down, and it is critical to understand. If a company says it wants their N-1 or EOS equipment on third-party maintenance support, it will not get software updates or firmware patches and fixes. However, most manufacturers don’t release more updates when a machine is at the end of its support or production life. That means if your technology is old, you’re not giving up anything.

The third-party maintenance provider should provide almost everything the manufacturer does. CDW’s proprietary third-party maintenance service for break/fix support, CDW Extended Support (CES), provides all hardware parts, on-site spares, labor and remote support.

Overall, you need to understand what you’re giving up: If the equipment is still available and the manufacturer is still putting out firmware updates and you need them, it’s critical to your business, and you require patches and fixes, third-party maintenance support isn’t right for you.

With technological advancement, it’s not uncommon for equipment to be utilized for longer than three years. After all, technology today has robust features like fast processors. When the technology a business owns is more advanced than what it needs, the less likely they are to upgrade its equipment. In this scenario, third-party maintenance is a practical option.

With CES, you submit a ticket when an issue arises. CDW triages the problem and assesses where the nearest part (local or on-site) is located. The technical expert who comes out to assist you will have a strong understanding of the technology issue you’re facing, the product, your environment and what they need to do. We follow a well-built process and provide certified engineers when we deliver on-site support.

If you want a third-party maintenance provider that cares about your success and is going to give you the personal attention you need, CDW is the right provider.

We offer a comprehensive suite of services that provide continuous break/fix support for equipment that the OEM either no longer covers (N-1 or older) or is nearing EOS. CDW can also provide affordable, high value alternatives to OEM warranty support.

When there is a problem in your IT environment, time is of the essence. You need support from technical experts who can immediately evaluate the issue and provide a speedy response in order to minimize potential disruption to your operations. CDW Technology Support (CTS) provides enhanced, OEM backed warranty support and incident management for covered devices and serves as your single point of contact for troubleshooting and resolving issues impacting your environment.

Personalized, reactive support is crucial to ensuring faster response, assignment, and resolution for your business’s critical technology investments. CES provides continuous break/fix support services for equipment approaching EOS and N-1 or older equipment no longer covered by the manufacturer. 

Here are a few qualities that set us apart:

1. Technical excellence: Anyone can sell something, but our experts deliver with technical excellence and solve the most complex business challenges efficiently.
2. Communication: When your technology is down, our experts follow up to ensure we know everything going on with your ticket.
3. Limit downtime: We spare the most frequently failed parts and create a process to ensure you get back up and running with limited downtime.
4. Cost savings: We save our customers an average of 60% in costs when utilizing CES so that you can invest the rest in resources that advance your business.
5. Flexibility: CES services provide contract flexibility, so you don’t have to lock yourself into a one-year agreement. We also offer flexible support options, from 9x5x24x7 to 24x7 next business day support, where you call us with a problem, and we work on it the next business day. In addition to finding the best match for your contract needs, our financial services arm allows us to provide financial flexibility.

The best way to understand the value of our CES and CTS services is to call around, get quotes and give us a call. When you choose to work with us, we make amazing happen for your business.