Part of my job is to deal with suppliers and other support departments for Products that we purchase, and the thing that really gets to me is constant calls from sales guys!
Some products I would recommend to other companies based on how the product is, other products I would highly recommend to other firms and companies based on the product itself but also on the support I get from the vendor.
Below is a small list who I would highly recommend.
Digital Dictation
We use a product called DictaFlow from a company called nFlow, it has been running for about 18 months now and I have to say it is a very stable product and we have experienced no serious issues with it. The Support department when I have had to deal with them have been on the ball and know their product inside out.
Unified Email Management
OK so I am guessing if you have read this blog before or have been following me for some time, then you will more than likely know that we use Mimecast for this! it integrates with our systems seamlessly and makes life so much easier. The guys at Mimecast are always coming up with new ideas and initiatives for new products and I have to say this year looks like we will see some big changes and it looks pretty exciting.
Again the support at Mimecast it fantastic, the guys there are on the ball and usually have my query answered with in minutes of me calling. This is a product that I do really believe sells itself. And the way it integrates into outlook is brilliant.
Hardware
Some people say “I wouldn’t touch Dell with a barge pole” and that used to be the cast for me 5 years ago. Back then HP were my preferred hardware vendor, until they moved their service centre out to India! Great one HP! as part of our contract with HP we had MS Support with them and our SQL DBA phoned up with a SQL issue and the guy on the other end of the phone asked how to spell SQL!
We then had issues that they did not have parts in stock when we had simple things like Hard Disk failures. We had a 24x7x4hr fix care pack on all servers and it took them 24 hrs to get a 300GB HotSwap disk to us as there were none in Scotland, or England, it ended up being shipped in from Germany.
However about 5 years ago we looked at Dell, the beauty Dell was that we went direct to Dell, and the hardware was made to order, ok that took a bit longer than next day delivery! but if you need a server usually you know well in advance that you need one!
So we gave Dell the opportunity to replace our old aging HP kit. and to this day I haven’t regretted it. not only has the kit been pretty reliable and well priced, but when we have had things like Hard Disk failures then it is usually with us with in 2 hrs. The only serious problem I have had with Dell is with one of our MD1000’s it kept powering off and on. I had a dedicated Dell Technician working with me on the problem and with in a few days we had the problems solved.
Oh and the call centre is in Glasgow!
Suppliers/Resellers
I have been with my current company for 6 years now and we have seen a number of suppliers come and go, however we do have one company that we use and would usually prefer to give the business to, Softcat.
My account manager at Softcat will more than often give me his best price first, there is no going back (usually) and asking if he can get that price lower! The other great thing is that the guys at Softcat do not call you every day, unlike some! I have even had a sales guy calling me twice maybe 3 times a day.
It wasn’t until recently that I realised that Softcat did hardware too! (Well with a name like Softcate you wouldn’t really think Hardware!), any how they are now an approved Dell reseller, and they have given me just as good pricing as Dell has, and Dell give us very aggressive pricing! Not only do they give us good prices but they also only charge £10 for deliver for each item, where as with Dell it does vary depending on the kit you order.
There are a few other suppliers that I would consider going back to, Ramesys, Dell (for both hardware and software), and InSight.
The supplier for our WAN link between the Edinburgh and Glasgow Offices is called InTechnolog. This company gives us a 10/100 mbps link between our offices and also back down to their data centre in Harrogate where we rent rack space and have several key servers and equipment down there. The service isn’t cheap but it is worth it, the WAN is very realiable, the Data Centre is fully redundant so our servers down there will always be running even if there was a power cut. InTech also offer a host of other services that I am going to be looking in to this year one of which is they Multi-Tiered Data Management (MDM) which is an offsite backup solution. They also offer Vitulisation Services.
The other think I like a bout inTech is their Annual Golf Day, although I do not play golf it is a good fun and a great networking event, oh and a free bar! so I know that our money spent with them is going on worth while things :)
If you have any preferred resellers/vendors you use then please do let me know.