Creating a new market segment is not for the faint-hearted. It requires persistence, patience and a passion to think and do things differently. At Curvature, challenging the status quo goes hand-in-hand with enabling IT freedom. We believe in giving customers new options and much-needed flexibility to manage, run and expand their data centers and networks to best meet their business and technology needs.
It’s what makes us different and what allows us to stand out in a traditional IT landscape saturated with equipment vendors who dictate what, when and how you deploy, refresh and support critical data center and network gear. Our flag is planted firmly in the nascent market for independent IT services—and we’ve been waving it for years to help companies lower OpEx costs so they can spend more on innovation.
We’ve evangelized the many merits of independent maintenance and educated IT leaders on how to avoid rigid manufacturer maintenance contracts and forced upgrade cycles. It’s been rewarding to see early adopters, many of whom are large, global companies, take back control of their IT spend by moving away from traditional hardware procurement and support routines.
Equally gratifying is seeing the market take shape and gain ground. As a leading market watcher, Gartner continues to follow this growing segment closely and has just issued its first-ever “Market Guide for Data Center and Network Third-Party Maintenance.”1
This guide defines the market for third-party maintenance and offers valuable direction and analysis for end-users. “Third-party maintenance started becoming mainstream in 2015, continued in 2016 and is still gaining adoption in 2017,” explains Christine Tenneson, Research Director, Infrastructure Services, Gartner, and author of the guide. “Many customers of all sizes, all geographies and all verticals are using TPM for some devices. Currently, Gartner estimates there are more than 10 million data center/network devices under TPM, and 71% of very-large enterprise customers leveraged a TPM for support of some devices in 2016.”
In addition to offering much-needed insight into data center and network support, this guide provides highly useful input for sourcing and vendor management leaders. “OEM support spending can be reduced by leveraging a blend of OEM and TPM maintenance together in a hybrid solution,” says Tenneson. “TPM contracts will offer customers an average of 60% savings off OEM support list prices.”
As the independent maintenance market continues to grow in scope and size, we expect more in-depth analysis and customer use cases to emerge along with qualitative and quantitative market data. Of course, we plan to remain at the epicenter of this space, bringing an expanding array of proof points based on Curvature’s delivery of best-in-class, global IT services, products and solutions. For us, this approach is more than just a business strategy—it’s our way of continuing to challenge established industry norms and empower our clients to focus on IT transformations that drive business innovation.
Recently in CRN, Alec Shirkey wrote that Curvature is an “independent juggernaut and $550 million heavyweight.” We’re eager to leverage our position as the undisputed leader in independent, multi-vendor support to increase TPM market momentum while giving clients the flexibility and agility they need to propel their businesses forward.
Thanks to rapidly rising client demand and ongoing technological change, we’re certain Gartner’s first-ever Magic Quadrant on third-party maintenance is on the horizon. We look forward to the day it appears, so we can look back on what it took to create a vital market segment that focused on the client needs first and foremost.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
