A company I know about is considering buying close to 200 computers. These are just for data processing, they can be headless, don't need much in the way of video cards (if the computer could boot without a video card that would be great, lower cost), don't need a keyboard, mouse or monitor (although a keyboard and monitor switcher might be useful for when it's not accessible via the LAN).
There are two or three accredited suppliers and they're quoting double what href="http://www.pcx.com.ph" Express quotes. I'm not sure where the money is going. Some of it is surely for support. We need one or two day warranty replacement turnaround on any warranted hardware no questions asked. I don't think the current suppliers provide that kind of turnaround, but maybe they provide three or four day replacement turnaround. Some of it might go to marketing overhead since the current suppliers spent something to get the account. Certainly some of it goes to financing costs, since it's common for large accounts to get 60-90 day terms or P.O. good as cash). On the other hand, they've been milking that company for a few years now. I'm not sure what the purchase volume is, but it's probably somewhere near one new PC a week.
I'd like to tell the purchasing people over there that they might as well buy twice the hardware, keep the extras for replacements, and then (after the warranty replacement period has lapsed) sell the extra hardware for a profit (or continue using it as replacements, of course). I'm not sure they'll be receptive though. The accounting mind is often closed.
They could also just buy around 1.3 times the hardware needed. The 30% extra hardware is only for replacing the convenience of instant replacement. When hardware fails, replace it out of the 30% pool immediately. The hardware is still warranted and will be replaced by the manufacturer. Just not within one or two days. When the replacement hardware arrives, put it back in the replacement pool and everything is copacetic.
There are two or three accredited suppliers and they're quoting double what href="http://www.pcx.com.ph" Express quotes. I'm not sure where the money is going. Some of it is surely for support. We need one or two day warranty replacement turnaround on any warranted hardware no questions asked. I don't think the current suppliers provide that kind of turnaround, but maybe they provide three or four day replacement turnaround. Some of it might go to marketing overhead since the current suppliers spent something to get the account. Certainly some of it goes to financing costs, since it's common for large accounts to get 60-90 day terms or P.O. good as cash). On the other hand, they've been milking that company for a few years now. I'm not sure what the purchase volume is, but it's probably somewhere near one new PC a week.
I'd like to tell the purchasing people over there that they might as well buy twice the hardware, keep the extras for replacements, and then (after the warranty replacement period has lapsed) sell the extra hardware for a profit (or continue using it as replacements, of course). I'm not sure they'll be receptive though. The accounting mind is often closed.
They could also just buy around 1.3 times the hardware needed. The 30% extra hardware is only for replacing the convenience of instant replacement. When hardware fails, replace it out of the 30% pool immediately. The hardware is still warranted and will be replaced by the manufacturer. Just not within one or two days. When the replacement hardware arrives, put it back in the replacement pool and everything is copacetic.
No comments:
Post a Comment