Certified Pre-Owned Storage: More Than Just A Pretty Price
June 9, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan
People tend to think first and foremost about servers when they think of IT infrastructure, but a true system, even if it is a monolithic, standalone server with as few as one or as many as 16 sockets, always includes storage. And in distributed systems that can grow beyond the scale up limits of NUMA machines and scale out to add compute capacity, they always include storage (whether converged on the server nodes or run alongside the cluster on the network) and they also always include networking.
No matter what, storage is a big component of every enterprise system, ranging from somewhere around a quarter to a half of the overall system budget, depending on the nature of the workload, the architecture of the system used, and the mix of media – tape, disk, and flash. And just like there are ways to lower the total cost of acquisition (TCA) and total cost of ownership (TCO) for servers by using certified pre-owned (CPO) equipment, companies looking to expand their storage would be smart to get bids on certified pre-owned storage when they are building out their systems.
The savings can be substantial, and there are other benefits with CPO storage gear that might not be immediately obvious to those who are unacquainted with the second-hand (or used) equipment market and the certified pre-owned equipment offerings that come from the major IT manufacturers, such as IBM.
To find out more about the CPO storage market as it relates to IBM systems and the customers who are enjoying the benefits of such offerings, we sat down and had a chat with John Richards, who runs IBM’s Global Asset Recovery Services business unit. This is the part of IBM Global Financing that gets back all of the equipment that comes off leases, or was used in test and development or lab environments, or deployed in customer trials, or traded in as part of a system acquisition or upgrade. This machinery is broken down into its components, run through the same testing and certification processes as new gear, and sold at a significant savings compared to new equipment. Certified pre-owned offers much better TCO than keeping vintage gear (perhaps three or four or even five generations old) in the field, plus you can customize it to your needs and you get a warranty and maintenance options as well.
With so many customers looking to save money but not willing to sacrifice features and functions in their storage, it could be that you can’t find a better price on storage gear than certified pre-owned gear. And with the world’s supply chains in a bit of a mess right now because of the coronavirus pandemic, maybe you can’t find any new gear at any price because of shortages. It makes sense, therefore, to give IBM Global Asset Recovery Services a call at 1-866-IBM-1123. Listen to the interview above and find out more before you do by visiting the IBM Certified Pre-Owned Marketplace to browse and buy.
This content was sponsored by IBM.
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