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What is Third-Party Maintenance in the Data Center?
Third-party maintenance (TPM) is hardware support provided by commercial service providers not related to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). TPM offers a more suitable and flexible alternative for individuals and business owners. You get quality maintenance services for your devices without any compromise on cost.
As your equipment reaches its End of life (EOL) or End of service life (EOSL) it signals the end of OEM post-warranty support and update. This is where third-party service providers come in. They offer a center support option to data centers all through the lifecycle of the networking equipment. In the data center, third-party providers offer low-cost alternatives to businesses by rendering support for servers, network equipment, and data storage.
The support offered by a third-party maintenance provider is the reason why it is possible to continue using your equipment after the EOM/EOSL dates, without any decline in performance. This particularly reduces maintenance costs while providing you with control of the lifecycle of your network hardware.
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The Timing Behind a Hardware Refresh
Hardware refresh involves the refurbishing of network hardware equipment by the original manufacturers to help reduce counterfeits and keep products in circulation. It entails upgrading your software or hardware to accommodate your ever-changing business demands. Hardware refresh promises various cost savings advantages just as it avails you with quality equipment, set up by industry experts.
As time goes by, your technological equipment gets old and loses some of its function. They soon become prone to security attacks and this is the point a refresh becomes necessary. The hardware refresh cycle is a critical business operation that involves a range of considerations before it is executed.
Generally, one should consider a hardware refresh for the entire data center for equipment older than 3 years. The professional services of a third-party provider may be required at this point to help navigate the entire process.
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Warranty and Post-Warranty Support
A warranty refers to a situation where you can repair or replace your equipment as stated in the terms of purchase from the manufacturer. Post-warranty support on the other hand involves a maintenance contract that covers services provided after a warranty period. Often warranty services come at no price while post-warranty support comes at a fee stipulated by the manufacturer or the third-party data center maintenance team.
Service contracts drafted with a third-party vendor offer a wide range of benefits to a data center. With the support gotten, you can keep your devices working perfectly after the expiration of warranty support. The hardware maintenance gotten at this point can help increase your functionality and uptime.
However, there are a few cases where the warranty may become invalid. For example, if the purchased item has been altered notably or some critical system components are copiously damaged.
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Looking for EOL & EOSL dates for your data center equipment?
The End of life, End of service life, and original warranties for your data center equipment across all service levels may be emailed to you from the original manufacturer. Also, you can find them by searching online for the product’s model or part number. If your product is about reaching its EOL and/or EOSL then employing asset lifecycle management will become important. The helps extend your asset lifespans and makes your data center equipment viable for a longer period.
It is important to know that if your data systems are working efficiently then there may be no need to replace them even if the EOL/EOSL dates are near. Notwithstanding that the original manufacturer may provide some sort of support, it is also good to remember that their business model involves the sale of new products instead of providing a third-party maintenance solution. As such partnering with a TPM provider is of uttermost importance. They provide customers with flexible contracts which offer robust coverage across your data center infrastructure.
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Going the Distance with Data Center Maintenance: Why choose third-party support?
Choosing third-party support for your data center is paramount for business success. It is a feasible solution to keeping data protected as well as reducing the cost of business by around 50-70% savings. When you use third-party support, a professional IT team is sent to supervise your center operations and ensure everything is running smoothly. They will validate the security operations centers and fix all the patches to ensure that you have resilient systems protected from malware and hacking.
- What are the advantages of third-party maintenance?
There are glaring advantages of opting for third-party maintenance for your data asset management. Some of the notable ones include:
1. Personalized Services
TPM providers individualize services for their clients. They do this by providing a flexible service level agreement that aims to tackle the unique needs of customers. With this, you can choose the service to pay for and as well how frequently you get the service. In addition, third-party access offers you a faster response in cases of an incident. This then improves your uptime and overall business efficiency.
2. Cost Savings
It is no longer news that opting for TPM helps cut the cost of running a business for you at various levels. Not only that, but it also saves you time which is a critical component of business operation.
3. Extended Lifecycle of hardware
When the EOL/EOSL of your hardware is close, the OEM starts approaching you to buy a piece of new equipment. The new equipment may not offer any remarkable advantage to your business as the old one can still suffice. However, the efficiency of the old equipment, in this case, depends on routine maintenance from a third party.
Third-party providers ensure that your equipment still functions properly as long as possible. The quality of service provided here yields a maximum return on investment for your hardware while keeping your system running smoothly.
4. Multi coverage on equipment from various vendor
TPM providers unlike OEMs can offer maintenance services to a wide range of products across various brands. They are trained to offer wholesome support across various network equipment, servers, and storage.