The last blog in our series on maintenance and support contracts discussed getting timely expiration notifications and determining the support level and support service needs. This next blog will touch on tips five and six – making informed decisions and deploying similar support levels.
In order to make appropriate budget and managerial decisions, employers need access to the necessary information in a timely fashion. Only when this information is both available and accurate, can business organizations make informed decisions regarding their IT infrastructures.
Companies that lack standards for sharing information between individuals often encounter difficulties when other departments attempt to determine the cost outlay of IT assets. Every business should have ready access to the support entitlement details—at both the contract and equipment level — associated with each application environment.
Companies should deploy similar support levels across the supporting IT equipment for applications, projects, or application tiers. Make sure assets from different manufacturers for a given application environment or project are similar.
Coming up next with tips seven and eight: budget and forecast support costs and tracking the relationship between hardware and software support licenses.
For a review of the first two posts in this 5 part series click the links below:
Maintenance and Support Best Practice 1 & 2
Maintenance and Support Best Practice 3 & 4
