The situation
Based on the budget and IT Roadmap developed by their Strategy Manager, the time came for this client to purchase new computers for their office. As an architecture firm, they run graphic-intensive programs like AutoCAD and needed a system that could support the graphics requirements. In an effort to save money, they decided to purchase gaming machines from an online reseller, instead of purchasing business-class workstations through their certified managed IT service provider Entech.
Not long after receiving these new gaming computers, they began experiencing issues. After some research by Entech and the client, it was determined that what they received were discontinued models with extremely limited warranties and no authenticity licenses. Even worse, some of the machines were defective and needed to be replaced, causing the business prolonged production interruption and significant employee frustration.
To top it all off, the video cards in these systems were not compatible with AutoCAD, which was the primary reason they made this purchase in the first place. All around, this exercise turned out to be a complete failure.
Our solution
About half of the machines they purchased needed to be repaired and, in some cases, rebuilt. The solid state drives (SSD) kept failing and had to be replaced three different times. While this could have led to extensive and costly data loss, fortunately they had backups ready to be deployed because of Entech’s work as their managed IT service provider.
Downtime could also have been a much bigger issue for this client without a partner to put additional backup systems in place while the new machines were being fixed.
“Replacement would have been a lot easier had we gone through Entech. We highly recommend going through a certified buyer for IT hardware purchases.”
-The Client
Had they purchased these computers through Entech from the start, in the unlikely event of any issues, the manufacturer’s warranty would have covered resolution the next business day. In this case, to repair these machines under the online seller’s limited warranty meant either sending them off and experiencing even more downtime or paying out of pocket for repairs outside of the warranty.