A comparison of Basic OEM Warranties vs. Enhanced SLA Management
1. Basic Warranties
A common practice in the data center industry is to rely on the basic OEM warranties provided by the various equipment vendors. These warranties do provide a basic level of protection. There are, however, serious limitations to these warranties.
- Most OEM warranties only provide coverage for three years. With a typical data center life cycle of 10 years or more, there are often many items expected to last well beyond the OEM warranty. Should a data center opt-in for any extended warranty the OEM may offer, the cost is usually prohibitive and may require a sizable down-payment.
- The majority of OEM warranties often provide only the most basic onsite service, often falling short of what data centers need.
- OEM warranties often provide a one-size-fits-all approach, rather than a specific approach tailored to your needs.
- Even with the best of OEM warranties, the coverage will only apply to that particular OEM’s equipment, leaving you to deal with a variety of warranties and terms from any number of companies whose equipment may be in use.
2. Enhanced SLA Management
In contrast to a basic warranty, an enhanced service level agreement (SLA) from a data center partner can provide the coverage and security that a data center needs to ensure maximum uptime. Enhanced SLA management offers a number of advantages.
- In contrast to a basic warranty, an enhanced service level agreement (SLA) from a data center partner can provide the coverage and security that a data center needs to ensure maximum uptime. An enhanced SLA offers several advantages.
- Unlike OEM warranties, an enhanced SLA can extend far beyond what the equipment manufacturer considers to be the end-of-service lifetime of the product. An extended SLA is also far more cost-effective than extending the OEM warranty and offers flexible payment options rather than the standard three-year advance payment required by most OEMs.
- Whereas the OEM warranties offer only the most basic onsite technical support, an enhanced SLA provides onsite support 24/7/365.
- An enhanced SLA offers coverage tailored to your specific needs.
- One of the biggest benefits of an enhanced SLA is the coverage it provides a multi-vendor data center. Rather than dealing with individual OEM warranties and policies, you can have a single warranty covering any and all equipment in use.
In the age of big data and the Internet of things, few things are as critical as your data center’s uptime. By taking advantage of an enhanced SLA provided by a data center partner, you can reduce costs while getting the most from your equipment investment.