Spoor & Fisher had been doing business with Enterprise Connection (now Faritec) for some time before it entered into one umbrella, structured financing deal that would take care of all of its IT assets. The rationale behind the move? Cash and cash flow, to be precise.
In late 2004, Spoor & Fisher was in the process of consolidating its two buildings in Rivonia and Centurion into a single building in an office park in Centurion.
Says Spoor & Fisher SA GM Glen Dean: "Our main business with Enterprise Connection ramped up when we started our new building project in late 2004. As Spoor & Fisher operates under a partnership, the distribution of profits is largely driven by available cash flow.
"We did not want to restrict our ability to distribute profits because our cash flow had been restricted by the massive capital outlay required to equip our new building," he adds.
Says Faritec rental finance business unit executive Vere Kilassy: "We started prepping for this move with most of our resources - our hire purchase department, our software department - and tying it all together with our rental finance options. The rental finance options also gave Spoor & Fisher the ability to source equipment from other suppliers and bring it all together under the Faritec rental finance options."
Expanding horizons
Since the move, Faritec has signed seven contracts with Spoor & Fisher, combining all of its IT and other needs into a single rental finance solution.
"These contracts were separated into three periods, three years for IT equipment, and four and five years for other or non-IT equipment," says Kilassy.
The first contract (three years) covered a Cisco Catalyst 6513 solution. The second contract (five years) covered a generator, UPS system, network cabling, access control, switchboard, HP ML530/70 servers and 223 workstations. The third contract (five years) covered a CCTV system, RightFax business server, Proteus TMS, CallExpress and furniture.
The fourth contract (four years) covered a Nashua 2051 multifunction printer and Panasonic projectors and whiteboards. The fifth contract (five years) covered some desktops. The sixth contract (three years) covered 120 desktops, while the seventh contract (five years) covered a Systimax MGS400 module.
Spoor & Fisher has benefited, says Dean, through "a much smoother and more predictable cash flow over the life of the assets purchased".
He points out that a one-stop financing arrangement for all of Spoor & Fisher's capital expenditure requirements meant only having to deal with one financing vendor.
"By having a global amount of credit available, we did not have to worry about financing each separate purchase. Since we had funding up front, we could also negotiate better deals with our vendors," he states.
The buck stops
Since we had funding up front, we could also negotiate better deals with our vendors.
Glen Dean, GM, Spoor & Fisher
"Rental finance account manager Bryden Culbert dealt directly with Spoor & Fisher's management team in all aspects of the move, including the company's needs going forward," says Kilassy.
"Faritec combined all the other supplier invoices and dealt directly with them. We held the payments until Spoor & Fisher gave us the approval for payment once certain milestones were achieved. This combined relationship enabled [both companies] to achieve the best finance options for Spoor & Fisher's needs and also improved the firm's buying power."
Faritec monitors the contract date both signed and expiry, the upgrade date, the payment flow, the period, the product description, the serial numbers of all equipment, the insurance of all equipment, and the service and maintenance of all products. In other words, the full IT asset management life cycle.
As financed equipment, ultimately, belongs to the institution that provided financing, Faritec and Spoor & Fisher are both legally obliged to be able to produce said equipment on request by the financing institution. Proper management of the equipment, from its location to its condition, is thus critical.
Killassy says the relationship between both companies has been beneficial and transparent. "Our relationship has matured over the years and Faritec is now Spoor & Fisher's supplier of choice," he adds.
Dean seems equally satisfied: "There weren't any real problems. Vere [Killassy], Bryden [Culbert] and the Faritec team were extremely efficient in setting up our finance arrangements and resolved any issues before we even became aware of them."
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