A recent survey by Evaluator Group investigated how enterprise IT administrators were coping with the impact of stay-at-home orders showed that they were often scrambling for new infrastructure. The two most needed requirements were additional networking gear and other types of infrastructure to support virtual desktops. This survey found one healthcare IT administrator whose team stood up 8,000 remote laptops in two weeks. And because phishing and ransomware attacks almost doubled post the stay at home work orders, security and data protection were also in immediate demand.
The COVID-19 responders on the front lines also include IT staff members who worked around the clock to deliver the IT services that workers within all industry segments needed to continue functioning. COVID-19 responders also include IT vendors and more specifically their financial services arms. Two – HPE Financial Services (HPEFS) and Dell Financial Services (DFS) – announced special financing programs to help IT administrators with their immediate needs. Among these financial services offerings, we’ve seen:
0% Interest Rates
DFS is offering 0% interest rates financing for server, storage and networking solutions with no up-front payment required.
Purchase Payment Deferral
HPEFS offers a 90-day payment deferral on new HPE technology purchases. Included in this program are new purchases of qualified HPE hardware and selected software, software appliances, services, and installation packages. DFS offers a 180-day first payment deferral on lease contracts covering data center infrastructure and services.
Short-term Rentals
DFS offers short term rental options for remote work and learning with 6 to 12-month terms and refresh options applicable to laptops and desktops. HPEFS’ offers a similar 12-month rental program for HPE PCs and laptops and adds preowned IT technology for periods of 3 to 12-months.
Cash Generation from IT Assets
HPEFS will buy back newer generation technology that is no longer needed. However, if it is still needed, HPEFS will buy customer-owned IT assets and lease them back to the customer. Both options generate cash for purchase or lease of new infrastructure.
Phased Deployment
Phased Deployment allows HPE customers to acquire compute, networking, storage and other technology infrastructure with the ability to configure, test and stand-up systems prior to deployment in a production environment. The deployment schedule can be extended out to 12-0months from the time of placing an order.
Used Equipment Inventories
Dell’s, HPE’s and IBM’s financial services units have extensive used equipment inventories. Used equipment from these sources typically includes a short-term warranty and a guarantee of availability for maintenance coverage.
It should noted that most if not all of these programs are available through these vendor’s reseller partners.
Creative Financing Softens the Blow
The same survey showed that, while some IT organizations were prepared to support a stay-at-home workforce, many others have been pressed to supply laptops, acquire new VDI licenses, upgrade networking capacity, double down on security measures and increase the robustness of their data protection capabilities. It also found that IT spending within most enterprises was put on hold. All of these initiatives could benefit these IT administrative groups in multiple ways. They defer payment until CFOs get a better read on the economic climate. They can convert existing assets to cash, putting money into expanding support for a mobile workforce. And their used equipment inventories give IT buyers immediate access to the infrastructure needed to scale-up this support a rapid COVID-19 response at a discounted cost.
