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I’m sure you have heard this, “You have to buy the hardware from us because we tweek, or optimize, or customize the systems to work with our specialized software.”  Well, I’m going to tell you the truth.  That’s a bunch of bologna.

Software developers tell you this so they can sell the hardware for at or above retail pricing which is not the best pricing you can get.  The fact is, you can tell the developer or niche specific software vendor such as a medical software or a legal market software vendor, to give you the specifications for the optimal machine that the software would run on.   You then take this information, contact your product partner (or if you don’t have one try ASE, Inc. at 703-273-8388 – too tempting; I had to plug my company) give them the specs and they will order the machine you need with all of the right specs and probably for a lot cheaper than the pricing you are seeing from the software vendor.

The software vendor may say that the services will cost more because they didn’t get the machine.  Ask why.  There is no good reason for that.  They too are simply buying a machine and having it delivered to them.  They don’t stock the machines because technology changes so much that they can’t stock the latest machines, which is what you want.

Certainly don’t get a “white box”, a machine that is not a name brand and put together by this vendor.  You want products from well known manufacturers so you can get their top notch warranty and support.  Both HP and Dell offer Build to Order systems that can be built to the specs the software vendor needs.

Pros & Cons

The Pros are that you will most likely save money this way although some software vendors have caught on and are trying to be competitive with their hardware pricing because they know that end users have become savvy.  Another Pro: you can have the separately purchased system dropped shipped directly to the software vendor to install their software.

The Cons are that if you buy from two different companies some people would say there is a chance for finger pointing when a problem occurs.  This is easily overcome as good systems partners can quickly figure out if the problem is hardware or software related.  Be smart and buy the manufacturer’s Enhanced Support for the particular computer system you purchased which will give you a direct relationship with that manufacturer.  Both HP and Dell offer a 3 year, on site, Next Business Day or Same Day or 4 Hour response feature that compliments the warranty and support pack you get with the purchased system.  This is a no brainer since the first time there is a problem you get the manufacturer involved immediately at no extra cost since you paid a nominal fee up front for this support. Believe me- it is much cheaper this way.

Robert Lane

President/Owner

ASE, Inc.

Getting you ready for tomorrow today

703-273-8388 ext 111

ASE, Inc. is an IT consulting, engineering, hosted and managed support services provider in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC area.  Since 2000 ASE has focused on providing full outsourced IT department services to small and medium businesses as well as providing senior level expertise designing, installing and managing complex databases and network security consulting to very large entities in both commercial and federal markets.  Call ASE today – 703-273-8388.