Desktop PCs

PCs are everywhere, but buying them in volume is often not simple. With
growing headcount and technologies getting fast obsolete, CIOs often find it
difficult to keep up–and keep users happy.

Branded PCs

Like most other branded products, top PC brands often offer reliability,
quality and efficiency. Most large organizations prefer to go for major brands.
Most small businesses do not. Part of the reason is price. For a smaller
business, assembled PCs are cheaper by 10-20%, and service is often better than
from a large multinational for whom the small-biz user is small fry. But larger
businesses can negotiate better deals and support with the brand-names, and get
corporate desktop brands like the HP Brio for the nearly same price as local or
small brands.

Don’t automatically assume that big brand products and services are better.
Ask other users, if possible, in your area, and you may find smaller local
brands giving better service; you’ll also find that service from the big
brands is anyway outsourced, usually to your neighborhood dealer.

If you’re part of a larger group or MNC company, though, you’ll often be
prescribed the PC brand to buy. Not always, though. Daewoo India, for instance,
has its applications defined by its Korean parents, but not the brand of PCs or
servers. Another example is many MNCs who use Dell PCs, but because that brand’s
absence from India (until recently), they choose other brands here.

The best deal

Any buying decision has to be based on services, such as warranties, vendor
support and money-back guarantees, as well as quoted price. If you’ve not
dealt with a company before, ask for at least three customer testimonials. Ask
those users and CIOs–most are happy to talk. Most of the top PC vendors offer
annual maintenance contracts (AMCs) that come into effect after warranties; make
sure you get written copies of warranties and terms and conditions of sale, and
study them carefully. For instance, be aware what the warranty terms and uptime
guarantees are.

Don’t be bullied into buying until you have spoken to all the suppliers on
your list and made a comparison between their offers. Ask the representative to
confirm specs and compatibility with your existing equipment. Also, don’t
forget to ask what additional software or add-ons will be bundled along with the
systems. Negotiating is an art, so make sure you are at your best, especially if
you are planning a bulk deal. On large contracts it is very common to see
support being given as on-site by the vendor providing service engineers. For
example, if you were to buy 50 PCs from the same vendor, ask for an on-site
engineer.

Standardizing, and legacy systems

PCs get obsolete in months. Unlike home users and gamers, enterprises can’t
keep upgrading them. On the other hand, you can run new apps on very old
hardware.

Dataquest’s publisher, Cyber Media, uses two standard models for new
purchases, and two for legacy ones (see box). For instance, the spec for new
purchases for Type A (editorial PCs) says: Current Pentium with 64 MB RAM, 4 MB
video RAM, 10-12 GB hard drive, 15" monitor. But the minimum spec for
existing older systems is: Any Pentium or Celeron with 32 MB RAM, 4 GB hard
drive, 2 MB video RAM, and 14" color. Any system with lower than that spec
will be upgraded, or junked if it cannot be upgraded. This is an effective way
to deal with legacy.

Another option is to re-deploy. A higher spec, called type "B" at
our offices, is for DTP systems. These are minimum Pentium III systems with 128
MB RAM, 12 GB hard drives, 16 MB video and 17" displays. Systems that were
lower than this spec were simply replaced, and redeployed in "type A"
applications.

The important thing is not to make exceptions to the model; when there were
several people needing a third intermediate spec lower than type "B",
the IS department finally introduced a category "C" rather than make
case by case variations.

Ensure that upgrades are compatible with present systems. You may not get the
old type of RAM your PCs use. If so, after a while, it makes sense to get rid of
them. Many do a quarterly review, and get rid of end-of-life PCs–giving them
away to education institutions, or selling them at very low prices to employees.

Does centralization improve efficiency?

If your PCs are standardized, the service company should be able to further
reduce costs by doing most of the work remotely over the network. The more
management you can carry out centrally, the less it will cost you. System
management tools will automate the job, but you should ensure that any equipment
you buy is compatible. The less users

can tinker with their machines, the less trouble the network will be to run.
Centrally managed PC initiatives aim to provide a standard, tinker-proof PC for
corporate use. Keep a look out for suppliers that support such useful
initiatives.

Minimizing ownership costs?

The total cost of ownership includes the cost of setting up, configuring and
networking a machine, as well as maintaining it, upgrading the hardware and
software, and dealing with users’ queries throughout its working life. These
additional costs add up to several times the price of the machine. But you could
minimize these hidden costs. One way could be to minimize the costs of servicing
your machines. Suppliers selling into the corporate market often bundle a
service element into the total PC package, allowing your in-house IT staff to
concentrate on other things, on top of saving the company money. If you don’t
have a big team of skilled support staff in-house, it may be cheaper to pay for
outside help, as a professional service organization should have the tools and
experience to do the job quickly and cost-effectively.

A Dataquest report with
inputs from Shweta Verma in New Delhi

Project consultant: Kishore Bhargava