I’ve had experience with most of the main hardware vendors over the years, starting with Dell in 1999 a touch of Unisys in 2000, some Sun (although Unix is not my strong point!), Compaq around 2001 just before the Compaq - HP merger leading on to HP for a few years…. a brief spell with IBM, back with HP for a while and now…. Dell.

I’ve just priced up replacement servers for an electronic document management system for a client (both primary environment and DR), now I know times have changed and prices come down but nevertheless I’m still always surprised how cheap Dell equipment is at the moment. Even when I compare to HP equipment only 6 months ago, this Dell kit is a bargain. I know I’m being looked after by a team in Dell with an aggressive pricing strategy but still.

The thing that I really like with Dell is the after-sales support service, I generally specify servers with 3 years 4 hour response on site (their Gold service),… when you compare the price of the system (with the 3 years on site service) to say an HP and then add the upgraded carepaks, the choice of vendor is a no brainer to me.

Don’t get me wrong, there are problems with the Dell route - for a start unless you’re buying what someone happens to have in stock you’re waiting for the system to be built to order and delivered… and in the UK delivery takes 48 hours to come from Ireland. When you add a typical build time of 3 days you’ve got a week’s lead-time for your shiny new servers to arrive…. it’s actually a similar story for laptops and desktops.

This can obviously causes problems with that new starter that’s due to start next Monday or that solution you need to go live yesterday. HP obviously has an advantage there - the equipment is sitting in reseller warehouses and can be with you next day no trouble.

This is why it’s important to educate the business if you make a change to Dell, ensure they’re aware you can no longer get a desktop, laptop or server next day. Of course in an ideal world this obviously wouldn’t be a problem - you’d have plenty of notice of a new starter or a new solution!

What are your experiences with the server manufacturers, their pricing, after sales support and delivery lead-times?

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