Ethniks Systems has provided the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) with 120 HP workstations on a leased basis.
"Leasing desktops is a very flexible solution," says Colman Mphahlele, ICT manager at NUM. "Instead of paying a large amount upfront, we pay a monthly fee for a total solution."
Ethniks marketing director Kevin Greig says ICT equipment rental is proving a popular solution for organisations that don`t want to dig into their capital budgets. "Rental keeps the integrator and the vendor involved in the account. The solution suits NUM very well: the hardware is leased through HP`s finance division, NUM gets onsite support and the option to upgrade after a year with a buyback option for the hardware at the end of the three-year period."
And the benefit for Ethniks? "We are tying ourselves into the client for service charges and for future upgrades where a premium is worked into the price," says Greig. "We stay involved with the client and will get involved with other solutions that they have. NUM knows that instead of dropping the box and moving on, it is in our joint best interests to work together on a strong relationship basis."
As well as upgrading NUMs workstations, Ethniks will also manage the union`s network and integrate certain specialist applications it relies on for its daily operation.
Outsourcing its IT management frees the union up to focus on its core business. "Unions are in the business of membership and managing that membership. We are not in the business of running an ICT shop and can`t spend large portions of our income acquiring and managing an ICT infrastructure," says Mphahlele.
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