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