FBMC:
Support Cost Savings with High-Quality, Personalized Service
Key Points
- Support FBMC cost containment and vendor consolidation strategy
- FBMC retains control of equipment lifecycle
- Provided an alternative for end of service life equipment
- Low total cost of ownership
Hardware
- Dell PowerEdge
- Dell PowerVault
Proven Partnership
"I'm not easy to please. Our vendors have to deliver real value in their services. We work enthusiastically with Park Place because they deliver consistently high-quality services and because engaging them makes a compelling business case. Good prices, valuable management services, and an excellent service ethic - you have to like that."
Glenda Atkinson, IT Services and EDI Manager, FBMC Premier Benifit Solutions
Summary
FBMC is an employee-owned benefits plan administrator. The company offers complete, flexible employee benefits solutions for public and private organizations. In business for 33 years, FBMC operates its headquarters in Tallahassee, Florida and several other smaller field offices throughout the state.
IT Services and EDI Manager Glenda Atkinson is responsible for network administration and operation of the help desk and company IT infrastructure. Ms. Atkinson manages IT operations at company headquarters, field offices, and the data center in Tallahassee. The 50-server farm, which houses the company’s PBX and IVR systems, runs a Cisco-based network and custom-coded applications for most business and IT processes.
FBMC had a long-term IT hardware support problem—the need for cost-effective server maintenance. All but one server in the company data center was manufactured by Dell Computer. After the IT department bought servers from Dell, they were offered 3-year maintenance plans and 2-year extensions. However, at that time Dell would not provide maintenance when the servers went off-warranty after 5 years. Wanting to avoid buying new servers and increasing IT hardware costs, FBMC looked for a third-party vendor to provide needed maintenance services.
Cost-effective, high-quality services.
Park Place Technologies came to FBMC’s attention in 2005. Although cost savings were the primary business driver, as the business relationship with FBMC progressed, the vendor’s service levels also proved very competitive with its much larger rival. FBMC engaged Park Place services slowly, contracting for just a few servers to start. After several years of Park Place successfully identifying and resolving many types of hardware problems, it became clear that there was a strong business case to make Park Place the company’s sole provider of server maintenance services.
Eventually, FBMC engaged Park Place to maintain its entire data center server farm. Now, Park Place is the first point of contact for all FBMC servers, even those still under contract to Dell. This loyalty was a direct result of Park Place’s Service First philosophy, which delivers out-of-the-ordinary commitment to customer service.
Rapid response, quick installation
Although Park Place does not have a facility in Tallahassee, they created a local parts repository there for FBMC. When servers are added to the FBMC contract, Park Place sends a technician onsite to inspect the new equipment and identify the power supplies, hard disks, and other parts for the new servers that need to be stored in the repository. When maintenance is required, Park Place can ensure it meets or exceeds its SLA requirements by making these parts easy to obtain and quick to install.
Benefits
Park Place Technologies provides FBMC with cost-effective server maintenance services that help the company keep their total cost of ownership (TCO) low and reduce the time and effort the IT staff spends monitoring server status and managing maintenance services.
- Lower IT hardware costs. By supporting FBMC servers beyond the standard three years, Park Place helps the company extend the life of its servers and avoid the costs of buying new ones, reducing the company’s TCO.
- Faster more accurate problem resolution. Highly personalized service is one reason why Park Place is FBMC’s first-level responder. Park Place uses a small pool of support engineers, who are very familiar with FBMC IT operations, equipment and infrastructure. This deep knowledge of customer requirements enables faster problem resolution and a level of service that is hard to match in larger IT service providers.
- Less server management effort. Park Place also provides FBMC with single-point-of-contact management services. By managing servers throughout their service lifecycle, Park Place eliminates the need for the IT staff at FBMC to monitor server status and coordinate lifecycle changes for data center servers.
- Flexible customer service. After Dell support expired, but before it could be added to the Park Place contract, the server required maintenance. Park Place immediately fixed the problem, without waiting for the server to be added to their maintenance contract.
Ms. Atkinson comments, “I’m not easy to please. Our vendors have to deliver real value in their services. We work enthusiastically with Park Place because they deliver consistently high-quality services and because engaging them makes a compelling business case. Good prices, valuable management services, and an excellent service ethic—you have to like that.”
About Park Place Technologies
Park Place Technologies is the premier provider of multi-platform, multi-vendor data center hardware maintenance services. Park Place enables its customers to extend the life of their IT equipment at a significant cost savings over the manufacturer. Park Place Technologies is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with a world class Service Operations Center based outside of Boston, MA and an experienced team of Level III Service Engineers serving North America. Park Place’s 20 years of experience with over 3,000 businesses make it a cost-effective, secure alternative to OEM extended warranty programs.
