Halloween is the one time of year we like being scared. In IT, it’s rarely fun. And for resellers, MSPs and integrators, some of the biggest frights are hiding in plain sight inside your customers’ estates.
Here are three of the scariest, and how independent maintenance can send them packing.
Fright #1: The year-four price hike
The warranty runs out, and suddenly the OEM’s pricing climbs sharply. It’s no accident. After year three, vendor support pricing is designed to push end users toward buying new kit, whether or not the old kit has had its day.
For your customer, that means a bill they didn’t plan for. For you, it can mean losing the conversation altogether.
The fix: third-party maintenance (TPM) from an independent provider. It gives your customer real cost savings against vendor warranty pricing, and it gives you a strong margin maker: partners should be seeing 30%+ margin on Cantel maintenance contracts.
Fright #2: Zombie hardware
Perfectly good servers, storage arrays and network switches get written off simply because the warranty ended. Meanwhile, end users tell us the opposite is what they want: to sweat their assets for 2 to 7 years past warranty expiry and increase their return on investment.
That hardware isn’t dead. It just needs the right support behind it.
Because Cantel is OEM-independent by design, coverage flexes to match exactly what’s in your customer’s estate, across server, storage, networking and end-user computing, rather than what a manufacturer wants to sell them.
The fix: keep the kit running, keep your customer invested in you, and keep your options open for the next refresh.
Fright #3: Haunted by contracts
A complex client base usually means multiple contracts, multiple end dates and a steady stream of admin. It eats into your team’s time and makes renewals harder to manage.
Cantel brings it back under control with a single contract and end date, plus flexible pro rata additions as your customer’s estate changes. Fewer ghosts in the admin cupboard, and more time for conversations that grow your business.
The fix: one contract, one end date, one partner to call.
The bonus: kinder to the planet, too
Not every scary thing in the data centre is on the invoice. Replacing hardware before it needs replacing carries a real environmental cost: new kit means new manufacturing, new shipping and old kit heading for disposal. Much of the carbon footprint of a server is created before it’s even switched on.
Independent maintenance helps change that. By keeping perfectly good servers, storage and networking running for longer, you help your customers:
- Cut e-waste by keeping working equipment out of the waste stream
- Reduce embodied carbon by avoiding the emissions that come with building and shipping replacement hardware
- Back up their sustainability commitments with a practical, measurable action rather than just a policy
As a B Corp, this matters to us. Extending the life of IT equipment is one of the simplest ways for you and your customers to reduce your environmental impact, while saving money at the same time. That’s a treat for your budget and for the planet.
The treat: a partner that sits behind you, not in front of you
If the idea of introducing a maintenance provider to your customers makes you nervous, that’s fair. Here’s what we do to make it less scary:
- 100% channel focused. We have no direct sales team competing with you. Every deal flows through your relationship.
- Our own engineers and spares. We carry our own workforce and stock rather than relying on just-in-time delivery, with UK-based field engineers and 24×7 UK engineer call handling.
- Global reach. We support customers in 49 countries.
- A track record. Cantel has been independent and channel-focused since 1986, and a high percentage of our annual sales are maintenance contracts.
- Support every step. From pre-sales and competitive pricing to post-sales and end-user onboarding, every partner gets a dedicated Account Manager.
- Certified B Corp. We’re committed to using business as a force for good, and extending hardware life is part of that.
And it keeps paying off
Maintenance isn’t a one-off sale. Annual renewals mean repeat business that keeps you sticky, and a maintenance relationship puts you in the room for any refresh discussion before it happens. You become a trusted advisor, not just a supplier.
Ready to swap tricks for treats?
If you have a customer approaching the end of warranty, or one that’s feeling the sting of OEM renewals, we’d love to help. Get in touch with the Cantel partner team for a no-tricks quote.
Happy Halloween from all of us at Cantel. 🎃
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