The pandemic has shown IT resellers that demand for hardware is not always predictable and large volumes of hardware are not always easy to come by.
But while supply chain disruptions and demand for IT equipment on a short term basis have caught some resellers napping, others have rented equipment to fill the gap.
They include Sydney IT business solutions provider Astron Technology. “With COVID, we saw an increase of clients with the requirement to mobilise workforces to be able to work from home, this increased the demand of rental requirements for short and long term needs,” says Brooke Younger, Sales Manager at Astron Technology.
“At the time, due to the increased demand, we saw a shortage of end user computing infrastructure as everyone was in the same boat. As such the demand for end-user computing devices, docking stations, keyboards, monitors and mice was huge, and the supply wasn’t able to keep up.”
So when clients called with short term technology needs, Astron Technology turned to Hire Intelligence, a specialist in short term rental of IT and AV equipment.
With Hire Intelligence’s help, it assisted a nation-wide business to set up its employees with laptops at short notice. Another client “with an accounting team based in their Sydney office had the same requirement to mobilise their workforce,” says Younger, “working closely with Hire Intelligence, we were able to help this client quickly set up their team and ensure they were connected and able to perform from their homes during the lockdown.”
This equipment isn’t the only technology Astron Technology clients are requesting for short periods.
“Astron partnered with Hire Intelligence to assist a customer during a large scale transition project to provide Cisco switching hardware to enable fast migration and temporary movement of systems while transformation works happened in the background,” Younger explains.
“As well as this, we have also been able to service customers with project needs who require the use of infrastructure temporarily, removing the need for a large capital investment.”
From cyber-attack to training sessions
Other resellers have also turned to Hire Intelligence in the last 18 months, says Hire Intelligence General Manager Neil Levin.
“When COVID kicked in we had a fair few resellers call up and say ‘My client needs laptops for…’, at the time, three months, we think it’ll go away in three months… which turned into 14 months later!” Levin recounts.
“A lot of businesses weren’t mobile, they were mostly desktop businesses, so we had significant numbers of notebooks and monitors out on hire.”
Companies and resellers are also turning to Hire Intelligence to source equipment needed for disaster recovery, proof of concept projects, product testing, training, temporary offices and to meet budget constraints, for example. In one case, within four hours of a call, the company supplied 30 computers to keep a retailer running after a warehouse fire. In another case, it supplied 800 monitors to a government body for a two-day project. When companies eventually start hosting in-person events again, resellers may also find a need to rent hardware.
Resellers should consider the types of hardware they may need to rent. Hire Intelligence supplies enterprise hardware, from NAS and SAN devices to high-end servers, for instance.
They may also need to deploy the same equipment in multiple states – Hire Intelligence is one of the few enterprise IT rental companies operating nationally, Levin says.
And if a reseller has a client requiring hardware for a short term, but Hire Intelligence does not have the hardware in its fleet, it is willing to buy it from the reseller to rent to their customer (where financially viable).
Renting has another key advantage, Levin adds: “We’re an operating expense. Due to COVID, a lot of companies are making capex approval a lot more difficult than in the past. Being able to get the IT that you need of the spec that you need and put it under an operating expense or project budget is a lot easier and certainly in my opinion makes a lot more financial sense.”
“Hire Intelligence has been providing technology for rent for over 25 years, and in that time our commitment to the best brands at the best rates backed by the ultimate in service support & customer experience has never wavered.”
For more information about short term technology hire, visit Hire Intelligence.
