Since third party support entered the market, vendors have tried hard to perpetuate myths about its quality and capability. Over time, this web of lies has been taken as fact. But they are stopping businesses, and the shareholders they are accountable to, from making significant savings on their IT support costs,

What is third party support? 

We’re a replacement of the support you receive from vendors and manufacturers like Oracle, SAP and IBM. In many cases, you can save up to 60% by switching to third party support. Generally, you’ll get an extended lifecycle of your hardware, avoid costly and unnecessary upgrades, and have access to a dedicated and experienced team who continue to support your software for as long as you have it. 

You deserve to have the facts to make informed decisions about who you choose to work with, so let’s debunk those myths.

Myth 1: When your hardware warranty is up, it’s always best to upgrade

Manufacturer warranties have reduced significantly, with many only covering your hardware for up to 12 months. The idea is you either pay for an extended warranty or upgrade so you get new equipment with a new warranty. 

Truth: You can easily get hardware maintenance from a third party supplier
It is a fraction of the cost of extending the manufacturer warranty or upgrading.

Myth 2: You should always upgrade when your lease expires because the hardware is old and will falter

Vendors are incentivised to sell you new equipment, even when it is unnecessary or not in your best interest. The end aim is always to get you to upgrade as soon as possible. 

Truth: The useful life cycle of hardware can be 5-7 years if serviced and maintained correctly. 
Third party support like DEC helps you extend the lifespan of your hardware, so you can keep costs down and do your bit to save the planet by reducing e-waste. 

Myth 3: Only the manufacturer can apply future updates

The manufacturer releases security patches, maintenance and bug fixes to keep your software and hardware working efficiently. 

Truth: Any third party supplier can apply updates to your systems
The manufacturer releases it, but you do not need a direct relationship with them to update your software or hardware. 

Myth 4; Spares supplied by third party companies are not ‘vendor approved’

If you need replacement parts like routers or motherboards, you must buy them directly from the vendor or manufacturer. Otherwise, they cannot guarantee the legitimacy of their named products from other suppliers.

Truth: They are the exact same product supplied by the vendor to the third party
The only thing the vendor isn’t approving is your reduced purchase price. It is also covered by either the third party warranty or the manufacturer’s warranty. 

Myth 5: A vendors warranty is 24×7 support with a 4-hour onsite response

When you pay for a direct relationship with a vendor, you get round-the-clock support with an engineer coming out ASAP. 

Truth: The first response is by phone to diagnose the issue and decide on the criticality of the call
Onsite responses are only for a system impairment or offline issue. Otherwise, it’s automatically a next-day response. Unlike many support packages from vendors, we continually run preemptive testing to avoid minor issues becoming big ones and reduce the need for call-outs. Our Australia-based support team will also diagnose via phone initially and come onsite as required. 

What are the benefits of third party support?

Third party support allows you to escape from the constant cycle of forced upgrades and costly maintenance contracts. 

It means you can:

• Gain significant savings.
• Free up the budget to innovate in other IT areas.
• Align IT spending with your enterprise goals, not a vendor’s goals.
• Do your bit for the environment by extending the lifecycle of your hardware.
• Increase the ROI of your hardware and software.
• Have peace of mind you aren’t being taken advantage of.

Contact us to start saving by switching to third party support.

Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash