Benefits of Outsourcing Your IT Department

Every company, large or small, at some point asks themselves: What are we going to do when one of our computer systems fails? Some companies, especially larger ones, have IT departments that may or may not have the time or expertise to fix their computers. More often than not, smaller organizations do not have the staff to handle IT problems. Still, both have an extremely affordable option: Outsourcing.

Outsourcing the repair of computer hardware is an effective way to handle this problem. It can save companies time and money. Here are some of the benefits of outsourcing computer maintenance:

Cost: It is expensive for a company to hire and train people to ‘be ready’ to repair computers in case they should fail. Paying salary and benefits full time when repairs are needed on occasion equals a high cost per repair. If IT personnel are also responsible for keeping network systems operating, do they have the time to drop everything to do a repair? Would it not be more cost effective to outsource the computer repair work and only pay for it when it is needed?

Expertise: If you have heart problems, you don’t go to a foot doctor – you go to a specialist. Outsourcing your computer repair problems to companies that work on them daily allows you to have dedicated specialists working on finding a solution for your problem quickly so you can get back to work faster. Reduced downtime means higher productivity.

Resources: Check your inventory. Do you have all of the components (trained repair technicians, tools, bench space, parts, etc.) you need to make repairs? Computer service centers are set up to process repairs quickly and do it right the first time. Outsourcing saves you the time and money it takes to have all of the above (people, parts, tools, space) which are needed to service your computers.

Knowledge: Keeping people up to date on ever changing technology is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Are you willing to spend the money to train your employees to fix every possible problem that may arise? Outsourcing to computer repair specialists puts that cost on the company you have hired to do your break-fix work.

What does outsourcing give you? It gives you piece of mind. It provides you with the expertise and go-to support you need when you need it without your company having to pay wages, benefits and training costs for someone, or in some cases, whole departments. This allows your organization to have a faster turnaround time, which in turn saves you time and money so you can focus on the most important thing: your business.

Business versus Consumer Class of Computer

 When purchasing a new desktop or notebook computer, users typically look at 2 things: a computers “specs” (processor type and speed, size hard drive, amount of RAM, etc.) and price.  It is also important to consider the total cost of ownership of a computer system. 

Business class computers typically cost 10-20% more than similarly configured consumer class computers.  Although initial cost is higher, total cost of ownership will be much lower because business class computers are built to last longer.  They are built with stronger materials and go through more rigorous testing by the computer manufacturers.  Consumer class computers also tend to be a bit heavier and have a shorter battery life than comparable business class models.

 In addition, the warranty provided on a business class computer usually is more substantial than that on a consumer model desktop or notebook.  The differences may include faster turnaround time and/or a longer warranty period. 

In summary, for business users, those in the medical field, education and government, and individual consumers, business class computers tend to be more reliable, have a reduced average ‘downtime’, and have a lower total cost of ownership - making them a wise investment.

Premier is an authorized service provider with specialties in repair, procurement deployment (with a focus on mobile field forces in the U.S.), and data destruction.  Rick Sandway is the President and CEO and is celebrating his 18^th year of business.  He can be reached at 800-322-7123 or email us at service@premiercomputer.com.                                                                

To Replace or to Repair, That is the Question

If your computer systems are still under warranty, that question has a pretty simple answer.  But what if your computers are out of warranty and beginning to fail?  With the recent price decline of new technology, oftentimes new replacement parts for used computers can be as costly as simply buying a new computer.      

 So what is a small to medium sized business to do?  Maintaining budget is a necessary evil and new deployments are a lot of work!  Some companies have used employee buyback programs to minimize waste and help lower the cost of new systems.  But is that enough?

 Premier recommends a cyclical computer “refresh” program.  If your PC’s have 3 year warranties then why not order 1/3 of your new computers in year 1, 1/3 in year 2, and 1/3 in year 3?  This way, you always have current, warranted systems in place and it’s much easier on the budget.  In addition, there is now a manageable number of computers you need to store, image, migrate data, asset tag, deploy, and dispose of at any given time.  Your IT staff will be happier due to a controlled, less labor intensive approach for management of new systems.  They should also receive fewer calls from end users!

Premier is an authorized service provider with specialties in repair, procurement deployment (with a focus on mobile field forces in the U.S.), and data destruction.  Rick Sandway is the President and CEO and is celebrating his 18^th year of business.  He can be reached at 800-322-7123 or email us at service@premiercomputer.com.                                                                

In today’s world, a majority of confidential data is stored electronically on computer hard drives.  Hospitals, clinics, schools, businesses, and individual home owners keep personal data on their computers.  In some cases, very sensitive data like medical history, tax records, and client information is stored and used daily.   

While companies spend millions of dollars on backup utilities, secure data storage, and network security to reduce the risk of security breaches, when it comes to retiring end-of-life computers, many don’t do enough to ensure that confidential data is permanently destroyed from their computer hard drives. 

Statistics show that every quarter second a file is stolen containing information that, if used, could compromise an individual’s identity.  Average identity theft losses for an individual average $3,000.  Loss of proprietary company information or medical records could cost ten’s to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  In addition, damage to an individual or a company’s reputation would likely follow the news of the loss.   

Reformatting hard drives merely “covers up” hard drive data – information which can be recovered.  Proper data wiping or hard drive destruction eliminates security risks and ensures that confidential or proprietary information does not end up in the wrong hands.   

A reputable computer disposal and data destruction company will make sure sensitive data is destroyed.  A list of hard drive serial numbers and a Certificate of Destruction provides companies with traceable destruction documentation which helps them comply with Federal and State laws regarding data retention and privacy.  

GATEWAY COMPUTER REPAIR

In the last two years, many schools and businesses purchased Gateway notebook computers.  Because Gateway is no longer in business, getting these computers repaired has become a critical problem due to the lack of repair parts.  To make matters worse, in many cases the owners of these computers must continue to rely upon them a little longer due to the lack of resources to replace them.      

If you are an individual user, you need to cut your losses and buy a new notebook.  However, if you’re one of those schools or businesses with hundreds or thousands of units, you need answers to questions such as “Where can I get parts?” or “Who can keep these Gateway computers running until funds are available for new units?”

There is a solution for those who are going to be “stuck” with their Gateway computers a little longer.  Premier Computer Services and a few other computer repair centers offer a service solution which allows Gateway users to get their computers repaired and back in service quickly.  By cannibalizing working units provided by the user (usually 10-15% of the total number of units owned), a quality service provider can “build” and maintain a spare parts pool which can be used to keep “active” units running. 

Since the user is supplying their own parts, repair costs are reduced.  And since the parts are “in-stock”, there is no waiting weeks and weeks for a repair to be done.  Repairs are often completed in 24-48 hours.  Best of all, no deposits or pre-payments are necessary – you only pay the per incident service charge when a repair is done.     

So if you have a bunch of Gateway computers, don’t jump off that cliff.  There is help available.                                          

For more information on the products and services available at Premier, visit our website (www.premiercomputer.com).  If you have questions, call Premier toll-free at 800-322-7123 or email us at service@premiercomputer.com.        

Premier would like to thank all of the Quad-City Area Chamber of Commerce members who participated in Premier’s e-waste recycle program during Earth Week.

With the help of many local small businesses and the Chamber, we were able to recycle almost 30,000 pounds of old computers and computer related items.

Did you know that each old CRT monitor contains up to four pounds of lead?  The CRT’s dropped off at Premier will now be properly recycled.  Computers too have many hazardous materials that can be reclaimed and reused by recycling.

We would like to thank the Moline School District for not only participating in our Earth Week program, but for sending a team of people to help unload all of the items. Moline School District delivered almost 10,000 pounds of obsolete items.

Overall it was a great experience and success. We would like to thank the following businesses (listed in no particular order) for making Earth Week a great week here in the QCA:

Mel Foster

KVF- Quad Corp

McLaughlin Body Company

H.C. Duke and Son, Inc.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters

The George Evans Corporation

Pendulum Resources

Bi-State Regional Commission

Estes Construction

Build to Suit, Inc.

Service Master

WQAD-TV

Community Health Care, Inc.

Junior Achievement

Rouse Consulting Group

Sedona Staffing

City of East Moline

Blackhawk Bank and Trust

Katz Huntoon & Fieweger Law Firm

Sterling Commercial Roofing

Moline School District

Hi everyone.

After months of prototyping, HTML coding, tweaking, optimization and integration, we’ve formally launched the much anticipated new Premier web site.

The new design was put in place to help communicate Premier’s new branding and color scheme, as well as to more accurately reflect that Premier is a modern, fast-moving computer service company – and also because our old design was due for an extreme makeover (just in case you were wondering where all the teal green went).

Here you will now find information on all of the services we can provide. Some may be familiar to you and others you may not have been aware we can provide. We hope that you will take a few minutes to browse through our range of services and see if anything would be helpful to you or your Company. If you see areas that interest you please do not hesitate to e-mail us or give us a call and we would be happy to provide additional information and answer any questions you might have.

If you have any feedback about our new website design we’d love to hear it. Please feel free to email us, and we hope you enjoy the new and improved premiercomputer.com web site.

The blog will be updated weekly with news and events covering everything from company information to new items and concepts that are coming to the technology market.

Whether it’s a notebook, netbook, desktop, server, software, Zune, or iPod, we know about it…and will be more than happy to share our opinion about it!

Check back frequently for updates and offerings from Premier Computer Services.