There’s no time like the present to talk about the ever-increasing role of third-party maintenance (TPM) in helping organizations around the world get a better return on their support investments. For nearly a decade, Curvature customers have used our flagship NetSure maintenance services to optimize support costs, especially for post-warranty and End-of-Service-Life (EOSL) data center and network devices.
That’s one reason we’re so pleased that Gartner recently has chosen to focus on this vital industry segment. In its inaugural competitive landscape report, “Leveraging Third-Party Maintenance Providers for Data Center and Network Maintenance Cost Optimization, North America,” Curvature was named a “Top Performer – Network.” 1
The author of the report, Christine Tenneson, is a research director supporting Gartner’s Managed Business and Technology services team research. Within the report, she writes that “TPM contracts will offer customers an average of 60 percent savings off OEM support list prices. However, depending on equipment type, location and product density, Gartner has seen that the range of savings with TPM contracts is 50 percent off OEM list up to 95 percent off OEM list.”
For years, Curvature has consistently offered customers comparable support savings while transforming how they procure and upgrade multivendor, multinational environments. We applaud Gartner for putting a spotlight on third-party maintenance because clearly OEMs would prefer to keep customers in the dark.
OEMs want organizations to protect all devices with an OEM maintenance contract whether they need it or not. OEMs also want to continue to force their customers to upgrade to newer generations of equipment regardless of the viability of what’s already in place. We believe this just-published Gartner report helps to shine a light on the opportunities that exist to take advantage of various third-party maintenance offerings.
Within the Gartner report, a mix of third-party maintenance providers were identified according to representative attributes/characteristics for top performers, rising stars, disrupters, stalwarts and secondary hardware entrants. To be considered a top performer, Gartner looked for companies with the following attributes/characteristics:
- Global
- Providers with significant market share today
- Solid brand awareness; well-developed service delivery
- Highly automated processes
- Developed channel strategies
We’re honored to be part of this first-ever report on third-party maintenance providers and look forward to seeing this valuable market segment continue to grow and thrive as that will bode well for Curvature, our customers and the industry as a whole. We envision accelerated opportunities for third-party maintenance in North America and beyond, as global companies increasingly seek more flexible, economical support options that can be applied to their entire footprint.
Now, with the help of major industry influencers, aspiring providers and vocal customers, we can raise our collective voices to broadcast the fact that better support and procurement options exist—and that organizations worldwide can take back control of their IT environments.
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1 Gartner, Competitive Landscape: Leveraging Third-Party Maintenance Providers for Data Center and Network Maintenance Cost Optimization, North America, Christine Tenneson, March 2016.
