For all businesses today, digital transformation is all about using technology to the fullest and taking advantage of the benefits that it brings into a business. When it comes to the IT equipment you use, services should be part of the solution. If you’re buying a solution without services, it’s just a product. It’s always possible to try to use support people in house, but you’ll never be able to achieve the level of support and return that become possible in using support from the vendor.
Networking and infrastructure equipment can be expensive, using the wrong solution, or not using it properly, only compounds your costs. Having a trusted adviser available through the vendor support team to work with you is going to turbo charge the return on your investment, allow you to run your business more efficiently and take advantage of the digital transformation you’re going through as a company.
Digitalization has created exponentially increasing IT and network complexity. Plus, having a network in the first place means that there will always be updates and upgrades necessary with the software that comes along with your equipment. Without access to it, you’ll fall behind. Eventually, an issue will arise that would’ve been addressed in a later release of the software, and if you don’t have maintenance, you won’t be able to update. Having your equipment under maintenance is key.
Also, don’t forget that downtime is very costly. Is it worth your IT investments to go it alone? Without maintenance or support, you won’t be able to get access to parts when they need to be replaced, and your network will be down. While the expectation is that good quality equipment doesn’t generally cause issues, the unexpected does happen, and you’ll want to make sure your network is back up and running and fast as possible.
Simply put, you can’t get better support than what’s offered from the manufacturer that makes the equipment. For example, at Extreme, we have support engineers and technicians who have long tenure with us, and they were involved in the development of the products. Replicating a similar dynamic in house without expertise in networking would be challenging and expensive. Taking advantage of what your networking vendor can provide, including support, will maximize your ROI and enable you to take care of issues when they arise.
Extreme Networks offers a complete portfolio of different service offerings that can assist our customers with our technology throughout the product support life-cycle. When you buy a new product, it’s important to evaluate the coinciding services that can augment the effectiveness of your network. Assessing your current network and potential additional products that are available to help you drive your desired results, such as performance improvements or digital transformation, is a great place to start.
Professional services will come as part of the process, and once equipment is installed, maintenance services are a great option for consideration. Maintenance services provide full access to the Extreme support organization for help with any potential issues or replacing products should the need arise.
In addition, we offer higher level services for customers who are looking for a higher touch engagement. Premier services are available if a designated engineer is preferred.
Managed services are also a great option for offloading some of the work involved in operating your network. This will allow your technical resources to spend more time on strategic initiatives internally, rather than keeping the lights on and running the network.
Finally, training and certification services are available so you can stay up to speed with the latest trends and technology in the industry.
“Extreme Networks offers a broad spectrum of services that you can use to your advantage throughout the product life-cycle.” – Yvon Girard, Director of Worldwide Services Operations at Extreme Networks
Keep in mind that from a products perspective, things can become commoditized depending on what you’re looking to purchase. Extreme products and services are designed to be flexible and agile so that you can plug them into your existing network, regardless of the other equipment you use, and it’ll run seamlessly across the board, including management applications and software that helps make the process easier for you.
Additionally, you don’t want to go it alone! The network as a whole is getting more complex, and when you consider a vendor, one of the key differentiators you need to look at is who’s going to help you extract the most value out of your network infrastructure technology and utilize all its features. Your vendor should have a long history of providing excellent customer support and the capability to grow with you.
Want to know more about Extreme Networks Services? Reach out to an Extreme Networks Services expert today, or call us at 1-888-257-3000.
