When I talk to companies about third-party IT maintenance solutions, I initially get a lot of resistance from people who believe that the OEM is the best alternative for off-warranty service contracts. I attribute this to myths about the level of support and expertise that OEMs offer as compared to that of third-party providers. It’s my job to de-bunk those myths.

If you’re trying to save money by maintaining your IT equipment past the manufacturer’s warranty, I’ve identified the five key reasons why you should consider third party maintenance over the OEM.

1. Price: Servicing IT equipment is a lot like car maintenance. If your car’s repairs are covered under a warranty, you let the dealer do the work. But if you’re not on a warranty, it doesn’t make financial sense to pay a premium for routine maintenance when you can find a skilled mechanic that charges significantly less for high-quality work. The same is true with IT equipment.
   
   Using a third-party IT maintenance provider instead of a pricy OEM can reduce monthly IT spends by 40 to 60%. For IT managers struggling to streamline budgets, this is a cost savings that can’t be overlooked.
2. Flexibility: While most OEM service level agreements are one -size-fits-all, third-party maintenance providers provide much more flexibility. In addition to offering various options on coverage days and response times, they feature co-term contracts that allow companies to adjust the expiration dates for multiple contracts so they terminate on the same date.
3. Multi-vendor support: OEM technicians service the products they manufacture, but third-party maintenance providers have the expertise to service all the equipment in your data center, regardless of the manufacturer.
4. Single point of contact: If an outage occurs and you have multiple OEM service contracts, who do you call? The longer it takes to figure it out, the longer your data center is down. With third-party maintenance providers, all equipment is consolidated under one contract and you know exactly who to call to get service.
5. Unbiased assessment: The OEM’s primary goal is not to maintain older equipment. It’s to sell new equipment. That’s why they “incentivize” companies to purchase by increasing maintenance costs. Third-party providers don’t have this conflict of interest because their business is servicing equipment for as long as it’s feasible.

    

The more companies understand the points above, the more likely they are to consider third party maintenance as a viable alternative to the OEM.