The report’s author, Christine Tenneson, Research Director supporting Gartner’s Managed Business and Technology services team notes: “TPM contracts offer customers an average of 60 percent savings off OEM support list prices,” she writes. “However, depending on equipment type, location and product density, Gartner has seen that the range of savings with TPM contracts ranges between 50 percent off OEM list, up to 95 percent off OEM list.”
The report examines services across 13 providers in 5 categories. Curvature is one of only two providers listed as a Top Performer.
Glenn Fassett, General Manager International at Curvature notes: “Europe has gone through concerning economic periods during the last decade. The need for higher cost efficiencies has led organisations to a strategic rethinking towards a ‘hybrid’ maintenance approach through TPM providers like Curvature. This hybrid approach offers reduced hardware investments (CAPEX); flexibility in product lifecycle management as well as overall process optimisation. We believe the Top Performer classification by Gartner provides solid recognition and increased motivation for Curvature to continue to expand our professional services to customers and partners with significant growth opportunities, especially in Europe.”
For nearly a decade, organisations around the world have relied on Curvature’s NetSure® third-party maintenance to support Cisco, HP, Sun, IBM, Dell, EMC and NetApp devices: “It’s highly rewarding to see Gartner focus the spotlight on Third-Party Maintenance as we believe this validates what customers have told us for years—that they want better procurement and support options than OEMs are willing to give.” notes Mike Sheldon, president and CEO of Curvature. “We are very pleased to be recognised as a top performer of network services, which we feel complements our growing server and storage support offerings.”
Global Research Reinforces TPM Drivers and Benefits:
In related research, Curvature recently sponsored a Dimensional Research global survey with more than 500 IT worldwide decision makers responding, to identify trends in data centre procurement and support. According to those polled, 60 percent use Third-Party Maintenance while 53 percent purchase pre-owned equipment. The top three drivers for increased adoption of TPM include a greater focus on reducing operational expenses, improved support offerings from independent maintenance providers and positive experiences with prior-generation hardware.
Moreover, nearly 90 percent of the survey participants saw clear benefits in their use of Third-Party Maintenance, including:
- Opportunity to lower costs (69%)
- Cost optimisation through hybrid maintenance, including both independent and OEM support (42%)
- Ability to work with a vendor focused only on maintenance (35%)
- Retaining vendor flexibility for future needs (34%)
- Reduced risk caused by vendor lock-in (31%)
Paul Jones, CTO, Sisters of Charity Health System in the US testifies: “We quickly saw the value of working with Curvature as it became quickly evident that the team wasn’t trying to sell to us like OEM’s have done in the past—they are on our side of the fence, trying to do what’s best for us and it shows. By helping us extend the useful life of our previous-generation equipment which Curvature supports, we have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Curvature’s NetSure Offers Global Reach, Local Support:
With NetSure, companies have the flexibility to maintain both current-generation and end-of-life products to extend equipment lifecycles while slashing operational and capital expenditures. A variety of flexible service levels are available, including 24X7 global technical support, four-hour and next-business day hardware replacement worldwide, onsite sparing and field support. Customers also have the ability to use the NetSure portal to centrally manage all their NetSure and OEM server, storage and network maintenance contracts.
“In the UK, large systems integrators and consulting firms as well as CIOs, CFOs and IT Directors of medium and large enterprises, rely on Curvature and our NetSure services. Our customers span across organisations in the fields of automotive, telecommunications, logistics, energy & utilities, and government. They repeatedly endorse our high advisory service and technical expertise that we have provided for more than 30 years. With Curvature, NetSure customers are extending the life of equipment, centralising maintenance contracts, lowering costs and ensuring reliable support – all qualities actively sought by UK and multinational companies today,” notes David Howard, UK Director of Curvature.
