Third-party hardware maintenance is still gaining ground

Cross-manufacturer technical services in data centers are in demand: In 2019, Technogroup, the market leader for third-party maintenance in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region, saw a new record turnover of around 41 million euros / Benefits such as cost savings of up to 70% and the optimization of internal IT processes through a single point of contact are extremely valuable to companies, especially now.

What happens to a car once its new car guarantee has expired? It’s not simply scrapped. After all, cars reliably do what they’re meant to do for much longer than two to five years. As long as they’re regularly maintained by specialists, that is. And the same thing is true for hardware in computer centers. When it comes to servers, storage, and networks, the lifetime of IT components is significantly longer than the manufacturer’s guarantee period.

To make the most of this lifetime, companies require partners who can maintain their IT infrastructure and quickly step in if a problem arises. Because computer centers generally contain a variety of diverse systems from different manufacturers, it’s useful to have a service provider with cross-manufacturer competence who can provide original spare parts and render services in all locations where the IT infrastructure of a company is located.

“Third-party maintenance (TPM) services of this kind are in demand,” says Klaus Stöckert, CEO of Technogroup. In 2019, the TPM market leader in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region achieved a record turnover of around 41 million euros. Sales were up around 10% on the previous year. “This result highlights the great quality of our services, in which more than 5,000 corporate customers place their trust. At the same time, it shows the potential of cross-manufacturer maintenance. Now, when so many companies need to keep a close eye on their budget, is the ideal time for alternative models such as TPM to help to keep IT performance on track at the same time as bringing significant cost savings and optimizing processes.”

Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, assesses potential savings in IT maintenance through the use of TPM at around 50-70% in comparison with OEM maintenance. In addition, TPM enables the use of the hardware beyond the end of manufacturer support (end of service life/EOSL), which is also beneficial with regard to sustainability and the considerate use of resources. The multi-vendor approach and single-point-of-contact concept save on unnecessary consultation time with multiple service providers. When problems do occur, this can be a decisive advantage in the minimization of turnover risks and reputation issues that can arise due to the failure of IT systems.

In addition to maintenance, Hochheim-based Technogroup offers supplementary services for computer centers. “At present, such services account for around 15% of our turnover. Our customers’ needs are multi-faceted: Computer center relocations, IT monitoring, and network services. We meet these needs through integrated, flexible concepts,” explains Stöckert.