3 Reasons to Consider Third Party Maintenance (TPM) for Your EMC CX4-120

Park Place Hardware Maintenance


Drew Teller July 02, 2013

 

3 Reasons to Consider Third Party Maintenance (TPM) for Your EMC CX4-120

When the EMC CX4-120 networked storage system was introduced in 2008, it rocked the server market as the first midrange array to offer the option of using flash disk drives, giving higher performance while using less power than conventional spinning drives. A 64-bit platform (over the CX3 series’ 32-bit) and two Intel processors—take your pick of dual-core or quad-core—this fourth-generation, market-leading Clariion series accepts up to 120 drives and maxes out at 235 TB.

As the trademark “UltraFlex” underscores, flexibility and modularity was a focus, and the EMC CX4-120 enabled the use a combination of protocols within a single storage system. Given its strong performance traits, you’ll want to give the EMC CX4-120 a long life in your environment. Third-party maintenance can help you do just that.

Why TPM over OEM?

More and more IT organizations have become disillusioned with high-priced OEM support contracts. Short windows for full-fledged OEM support—generally many years less than the hardware deserves—has led forward-thinking companies to reconsider their maintenance partner.

Third-party maintenance (TPM) offers a numerous advantages over the OEM, including:

  1. Long-Term Plan. With the EMC CX4-120 going EOSL in 2016, engaging a TPM now offers you the ability to begin a working relationship with a support provider who is willing to work with you as long as you’d like to keep the CX4-120 up and running.
  2. Frustrating escalation processes are the name of the game with OEMs. By contrast, TPMs build their reputations on customer service. As a result, they put you in touch with highly skilled personnel immediately—not after an automated phone tree and several layers of less-than-helpful “help desk” support. In fact, the best TPM providers focus solely on support and are great at it.
  3. In addition to the other advantages, TPM generally saves 30% to 60% versus the OEM maintenance alternative. Many IT managers believe they need to wait for EOSL time before TPM becomes an option when, in fact, you can take advantage of these cost-savings today.

As part of your hardware lifecycle management plan, you may want to consider a reputable third-party alternative to OEM support. A white paper, which you can download here, will give the full picture of the advantages.

 

About the Author

Drew Teller, Channel Marketing Manager
Drew Teller is focused on finding the latest end of life information. Drew's interests lie in supporting IT professionals with their end of life equipment.