Dell South Africa has completed delivery of 88 notebooks to the Metropolitan Group as part of an agreement that has seen this insurance giant standardise on Dell desktops and notebooks.
Within Metropolitan`s nine business units, its Business and Technology Services department is responsible for the supply of hardware to the group. This division is run in a commercial fashion as it advertises its hardware products on the corporate intranet.
Desktop manager at Metropolitan, Adriaan Vlok, explains that Metropolitan started out as a Compaq shop, but later took Dell on as second preferred supplier. "We have decided to standardise on Dell, given the product`s pricing, the fact that the latest technology was not immediately filtered through to us by our previous supplier and having to deal with a middleman and not direct."
Standardising on a single supplier has resulted in a host of benefits for Metropolitan, but Vlok says while more than one brand of hardware was still available, Metropolitan employees, in general, preferred Dell.
"While we still offered more than one brand, most of our divisions selected to go the Dell route because as a direct vendor the latest chip sets and technologies were always immediately available from them," adds Vlok.
He maintains that less than 1% of the computing problems at Metropolitan`s head office are hardware-related. "We have one hardware maintenance engineer to cover the bases for between 3 500 to 4 000 employees."
In terms of support, Metropolitan prefers dealing directly with its notebook and desktop supplier. "Bearing in mind that we have no vendors through whom we work, as a manufacturer, we ensure that our products are up and running. It is our responsibility and there is no one to whom we can pass the buck," says Leigh Hancock, product marketing manager at Dell SA.
Vlok agrees: "We have in-house technical support, but should we encounter a serious problem we are able to contact Dell directly and they help us sort out the problem immediately."
Having a single product to support has meant savings for Metropolitan, and it has taken to Internet-based shopping. "Dell has customised its Premier Pages to suit Metropolitan`s requirements, and Metropolitan in turn ensures that its intranet reflects the information kept on the Premier Pages. This saves time and money," adds Hancock.
Vlok concludes by saying that it is a culmination of cost, quality and technology that has led Metropolitan to standardise on Dell.
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