How Good are the Support Services for Your Company's Servers?

Are you putting your company's information technology (IT) environment at risk without knowing it? Chances are, if you've begun to rely on industry-standard servers to run critical workloads, then you are unwittingly exposing your company to risks. The support services for these servers may not be as robust as you think.

In 2006, industry-standard servers accounted for over 50% of total server revenue through the first three quarters — and over 90% of total units shipped. Moreover, 55% of respondents in a recent IDC survey indicated that server failure occurring during normal business hours would have "a significant impact" on their business.

Given the growth and importance of industry-standard servers, it's critical that IT managers understand the terms of their vendors’ support agreements. Take the following actions to help avoid problems:

* Read the fine print
* Consider the support services when selecting a server vendor
* Select a support package that provides the coverage you need

For details on these recommendations, and how put your company in a better position to successfully weather the inevitable downtime, read the IDC white paper entitled, "The Importance of Transparency in Industry-Standard Server Support Services Offerings," by senior research analyst Matt Healey.