In this article we told you how multivendor support works, what software and equipment maintenance can be delegated to ITGLOBAL.COMspecialists and why this option is more profitable for business than hiring specialists and doing technical support on your own.
How businesses used to solve issues with tech support
Businesses used to be able to purchase hardware and software with or without tech support. Each option had its own nuances. Businesses could purchase hardware and software with or without tech support.
After purchasing hardware and software without tech support, companies had to deal with customization, repairs and updates themselves. To do this, they needed to build up their own expertise, i.e. hire qualified employees and train them. And also to pay salaries, sick leave, vacations and taxes to the state.
The second option was more common. It was chosen by companies that wanted to focus on their core business and delegate support to a third-party organization. In this case, the client turned to an integrator-partner of the vendor, who helped not only to purchase the necessary product or organize the delivery of “hardware”, but also provided technical support if necessary. In this case the company could save on the maintenance of in-house specialists and direct resources to business development.
In 2022, after the departure of foreign vendors from Russia and the imposition of sanctions, many companies found themselves in a difficult situation, when in order to save their business they had to restructure processes and optimize costs, for example, to cut some employees. It became difficult for businesses to keep their equipment running on their own, and most integrators stopped providing technical support due to the suspension of the official warranty from the vendor.
ITGLOBAL.COM has been a service provider for more than 14 years for the world’s leading vendors, such as Cisco and NetApp, and provided professional support, including first-line support. In early 2022, it developed a special service ITGLOBAL.COM PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTthat takes care of hardware and software maintenance for organizations.
How multivendor support works
If a business does not have the financial and human resources or competencies to handle hardware and software maintenance on its own, the company can use multivendor support services.
Multivendor supportis the outsourcing of hardware and software maintenance to one third-party organization. Delegating technical support is possible even if the company’s infrastructure consists of products from different vendors of different generations.
The integrator undertakes technical support and maintenance of the client’s hardware and software. For a fee, the client receives a fault-tolerant infrastructure and works without the risk that all servers will break down at one moment, and the license term will expire at the most inopportune moment.
The company can turn to ITGLOBAL.COM for one-time services, such as installation and switching of equipment, license activation or training of technicians. Or provide ongoing technical support, where the integrator’s specialists ensure the characteristics specified in the SLA.
In this way, a business can pay only for the necessary pool of services and save on hiring, training and maintaining a whole staff of its own employees.
Which hardware and software support can be outsourced to ITGLOBAL.COM
VMware
American company VMware is the largest developer of virtualization software. In 2008 ITGLOBAL.COM became the first VMware service provider in Russia. For 15 years the company occupied up to 95% of the Russian market of virtualization platforms, the vendor’s solutions were used by large corporations from the public sector, banking industry and retail.
In September 2022, the vendor announced that it was leaving the Russian market. Users continued to use the purchased VMware licenses, but lost technical support, updates and knowledge base, where previously they could find answers to their questions and solve problems on their own.
Now only cloud providers with sites abroad can provide official VMware licenses. For example, ITGLOBAL.COM has sites on VMware in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan, as well as proven expertise with three vendor certificates:
- VMware Cloud Verified means that ITGLOBAL.COM infrastructure meets VMware requirements;
- VMware Enterprise Cloud provider means that ITGLOBAL.COM is an authorized VMware provider;
- VMware Certified Professional means that ITGLOBAL.COM professionals are VMware certified;
NetApp
American company NetApp is one of the world leaders in the market of network storage systems (NAS). Like many foreign equipment manufacturers in March 2022, the vendor announced that it is leaving the Russian market. Because ITGLOBAL.COM is a Gold level NetApp partner and has specializations in support services certified and professional services certified, the company has been able to offer users technical support for their equipment, from basic employee consultation to adjusting array settings and analyzing system logs for errors.
Cisco
Cisco is an American company, the largest supplier of software, networking and telecommunications equipment: routers, switches, Wi-Fi access points, network security solutions and other products. In 2021, Cisco held 56% of thenetwork infrastructure market. In March 2022, the vendor halted all Russian business operations, disabled networking academy access for students and instructors from the Russian Federation, and on June 23, Cisco announced its withdrawal from the Russian market.
Businesses that had been working on the vendor’s equipment for decades were left without information and technical support. The use of Cisco products was also in question, as at any moment the vendor could release an update that would disable the equipment of Russian users. Businesses that had been working with the vendor’s equipment for decades were left without information and technical support.
To fully work on the “hardware” Cisco and minimize the risks of breakdowns, downtime and financial losses, companies began to look for an integrator who can be trusted to support the equipment. ITGLOBAL.COM has been providing support line under Cisco vendor contracts for 12 years, that’s why it was immediately ready to undertake turnkey IT infrastructure maintenance.
Dell
Dell is an American company, the largest manufacturer of servers. In 2021, the vendor ranked first in server shipments in Russia. According to IDC estimates, at the end of 2021, its share was 21% in the Russian market. Dell is the largest server vendor in Russia.
ITGLOBAL.COM on the basis of Dell servers developed sets of equipment for building virtualized infrastructure and actively used them to deploy clouds for its customers. After the vendor’s departure from Russia, the integrator offers businesses to delegate technical support of servers to its certified specialists.
Cubro
Cubro is a leading global manufacturer and provider of Network TAP, Network Packet Brokers, Bypass and Probes solutions for monitoring, security and analytics of network traffic. The vendor has offices in Austria, Canada, Singapore and Japan. Technical support for Cubro solutions is also available through ITGLOBAL.COM PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT.
vStack-R (ITGLOBAL.COM specification server solutions)
ITGLOBAL.COM is now actively delivering vStack-R servers to solve standard business challenges: virtualization, web servers, data storage. In 2022, ITGLOBAL.COM has successfully tested the vStack hyperconverged platform on vStack-R servers and is now ready to offer this solution..
The vStack-R hardware platform uses proven, software-optimized hardware manufactured to ITGLOBAL.COM specifications. It provides multiple redundancies in resources, power and performance. All components are hot-swappable without shutting down the hardware. The ITGLOBAL.COM service center always has spare parts and components available, which provide NBD (Next Business Day) level support.
Why ITGLOBAL.COM can be trusted
After the departure of foreign vendors from the Russian market, companies were not ready to move en masse to the cloud, purchase large volumes of domestic equipment or independently engage in the maintenance of foreign hardware and software. These actions required large human and financial resources, so the business found itself in a situation where work processes could stop at any moment due to lack of technical support from the vendor.
Not all Russian integrators could promptly help with software license renewal and equipment maintenance. Some of them could not provide round-the-clock support, others had few qualified specialists, and others lacked business processes for quick resolution of incidents. Not all Russian integrators could promptly help to extend software licenses and maintain equipment.
Since ITGLOBAL.COM has been a service provider of world market leaders such as Cisco, NetApp, VMware for more than 14 years, the company was quickly able to offer Russian users the service of multivendor support. With its help, users were able to order one-time services or transfer equipment of foreign vendors for complex maintenance.
If an incident occurs, it is enough to leave a request on the self-service portal, so that experts will help to solve the problem by phone, email or messenger at any time of the day. All terms of service are clearly spelled out in the SLA, so a business can operate smoothly, save budgets on maintaining its own staff and pay only for services that are relevant to it at a given time.
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