Have you ever compared third-party maintenance for your storage hardware with what the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) offers? Did you know third-party maintenance providers can offer the same level of support for all your hardware, and even offers many other advantages in terms of savings, availability, and expertise?

1. To learn more about third-party support and if it is the right fit for your
organization’s needs, visit reliant-technology.com/maintenance
or call 1.877.227.0828.

2. INDEPENDENT SUPPORT VENDORS ARE
LESS SKILLED
THAN OEM ENGINEERS
Additionally, engineers from a third-party support organization are more likely to have
certifications in multiple manufacturer brands, giving them a broad understanding and
thorough knowledge of multiple equipment lines - ideal for supporting multi-vendor
environments. OEM engineers’ expertise is more limited to the brand they represent,
however storage environments are not always homogeneous from one manufacturer.
Independent maintenance vendors can provide comprehensive support for your data
center, especially if you have more than one vendor within your data center.
You can work with one company and have one maintenance service agreement to cover
your entire data center instead of managing multiple contracts, coverage dates, and SLAs,
all while working with the same level of engineer qualifications.
When evaluating potential maintenance providers, don’t forget to ask about
certifications across multiple vendors. You want to make sure that the engineers
are fully qualified to support all the equipment within your data center.
OEM engineers are usually experts in their equipment - as they should
be. However, that doesn’t mean that OEM engineers are the only
experts on that equipment. High-quality third-party maintenance
providers will have engineers that are trained on OEM equipment with
the same certifications and qualifications that OEM engineers have.
In fact, many engineers working for third-party maintenance vendors
often have previous experience working at an OEM.
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3. OEM SUPPORT SERVICE IS
INHERENTLY BETTER
THAN THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT An independent support vendor is focused on delivering hardware support in the best
interest of the customer’s needs - not pushing up-sells or more equipment than you
require. This focus on your organization’s best interests results in an overall better
capability of handling hardware issues, easier and faster support, and support from a
source that is only concerned with making sure your current equipment works the way
you need, want, and expect it to.
The reality of getting support for your end-of-life (EOL) equipment from
the OEM is that their responsibilities are divided between upselling their
newest product lines and providing maintenance. Often times, for the
OEM, maintaining customers’ N-1 or N-2 hardware is in direct conflict
with their sales goals and upgrade paths.
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4. THIRD-PARTY MAINTENANCE
RESPONSE TIMES ARE SLOWER
THAN THE OEM
Many OEM call-centers are located overseas which can also cause additional delays,
whereas a third-party vendor with a domestic based call-center can easily respond to
customers’ needs and provide quick resolution to any hardware issues. Third-party support
SLAs can provide direct and easily accessible technical support on the first call every time.
Third-party vendors also can have a national network of engineers to ensure nationwide
coverage is available on-site if needed.
Slower response times are often reported to be more typical of an OEM
than an independent support provider. OEM customer service and
technical support has a hierarchical chain of command, starting support
requests with the lower tier engineers, in order to minimize costs
before escalating.
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Choose a maintenance provider that puts your needs as a priority. Make sure
they are available when you need them and offer you flexibility to determine the
terms and coverage you need for your unique environment.
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5. PRIORITIES FOR THE OEM &
THIRD-PARTY MAINTENANCE VENDORS
ARE THE SAME
When the OEM controls both the cost of new hardware and the cost to support your
existing hardware, they have a lot of power in determining when the cost to support
existing equipment becomes more expensive than upgrading to new equipment. By
extending the lifespan of your legacy hardware with post-warranty support, you decide the
timeline of what and when to upgrade.
The OEM’s goal is to promote their latest and greatest products.
However, that doesn’t always align with the objectives of the end user.
Business-owners, IT Directors, and Storage Architects are often looking
to stretch their IT budgets and get the most value out of their storage
assets, while the OEM is focused on pushing rapid upgrade paths,
thereby minimizing the lifespans of existing products.
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A third-party maintenance provider is focused entirely on maintaining your
existing equipment, but many support vendors can provide hardware upgrades
as well. Ask about available upgrades before replacing your existing system.
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6. OS & FIRMWARE PATCHES
ARE CRITICAL TO
EOL EQUIPMENT SUPPORT
While the OEM will recommend that you upgrade your equipment once it has gone EOL,
it is usually that new generation of equipment that requires critical OS or firmware
patches. So, when you don’t have to worry about OS and firmware updates from the
OEM, supporting legacy equipment through a third-party maintenance provider is a cost-
effective alternative with the same peace of mind.
One of the concerns people may have when considering leaving
OEM support is that they will no longer have access to critical OS and
firmware patches for their EOL equipment. The truth is that once
equipment is deemed EOL by the manufacturer, critical OS or firmware
patches are few and far between.
The equipment’s firmware and OS are stable at the point, so third-party
maintenance vendors can fully support your EOL equipment at
that level.
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7. THIRD-PARTY MAINTENANCE VENDORS
CAN’T ACCESS THE NECESSARY PARTS
OR CAN ONLY ACCESS LOW-QUALITY PARTS
Independent maintenance providers have access to a wide network and inventory of
replacement parts, and keep stock of all critical parts for systems they maintain, so that
a part can be replaced immediately if and when necessary.
In the world of third-party maintenance, the term end-of-life doesn’t
really exist - especially not in the manner that the OEM will suggest it
does. Just because a system goes EOL in the OEM world doesn’t mean
that replacement parts cease to exist.
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Ask about replacement part testing to make sure that the equipment going into
your data center is up to the highest standards. When considering third-party
support vendors, ask about their testing procedures and certification processes
for spares and replacement parts.
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8. Myths around what third-party support can offer your
organization in terms of savings, reliability, and expertise can
complicate your decision making process and priorities.
FACTS?
WANT THE
FACTS?
To learn more about third-party support and if it is the right fit for your
organization’s needs, visit reliant-technology.com/maintenance
or call 1.877.227.0828.