In today’s world of every increasing pressure to reduce expenses to improve profitability, people often put a big target on Support and Maintenance contracts labeling them as non-essential. So what if you haven’t upgraded the server or application since the last server refresh 4 years ago? Do you really need to keep the support and maintenance? Or can you take the easy money and drop them?
Here are the Top 5 reasons why you should keep your Support and Maintenance:
1.) Murphy’s Law – The very minute you decide to drop support, something always tends to go wrong. Several times in the last year we’ve needed to rebuild clients who’d server finally bit the dust after years of faithful service. Without support you’re left to your own resources to get it back up and running. You can’t even call the manufacturer for help without a support contract.
2.) Changing Environments – The Status Quo isn’t what it used to be! Just when you thought things were all settled, your boss announces that you’re going to need to add fax capability to a new department using some third party line of business application you’ve never seen. Or even better, you’re going to upgrade your Exchange Environment, and you’ve not touched the connector since it was installed
3.) New Features and Functionality – Just as your environments change, development never stops. Just look at all the changes in RightFax 10.5. The speed of the file structure, updated user interfaces, support for virtualization etc.
4.) Alien Attacks – No, that that type of Alien. What we’re talking about are the people who stay up late in darkened rooms and write disturbing code to exploit miniscule security holes in Java, Microsoft and other interdependent software. Without support, you won’t have access to the latest feature packs and security fixes allowing you to remain vulnerable.
5.) Relationship Building – The best support most likely comes from the people who have a vested interest in the success or failure of your environment. So when Murphy’s Law finally comes into play, you have a friend in the business that is more than willing to provide support. Support personnel are often measured on how fast they can provide a resolution and a make a happy client.
