Maintaining Your IT System

1. Suppliers and Warranties

Planning your maintenance strategy starts before you buy your equipment.

Cheap PCs are a false economy, especially if they are needed to support key applications. Budget PCs often contain components with a short lifespan.

Ensure any new PC purchase is compatible with your other equipment (such as printers). See Specifying and purchasing IT.

1.1 If you and your employees are inexperienced with PCs, choose a supplier that offers at least one year's on-site maintenance.

• If this is not part of the standard deal, ask how much on-site cover would cost. If the cost is below 15 per cent of the purchase price, it is probably a good investment.

1.2 If you already have PCs and some experience with them, but have never opened one up to fit new parts, a return-to-base maintenance deal may be suitable (except for critical equipment like network servers).

• You will lose the use of faulty equipment for a while, so you may need to use other machines to provide cover. If you have to pay carriage charges, this may make the total cost of return-to-base maintenance as high as an on-site deal.

1.3 If you have employees with proven experience of simple repairs, paying extra for hardware maintenance cover may not be worthwhile.

• Check that opening up your PCs to add or replace components will not invalidate the warranty - and do not overrate your employees' capabilities.
• Once the standard warranty has expired, or if software or network problems occur, a good relationship with a local repairer may be worth more than extended hardware cover from the manufacturer.

1.4 Pick a supplier that will give you the original CD-ROM disks of all your pre-installed software, and the manuals and licences.

1.5 If the supplier is not setting up your new PC system for you, check the delivery (hardware, software, cables and manuals) against the delivery note and your order.

• Do not continue installing equipment until any missing items have been supplied.
• Keep packaging materials. You might have to return equipment for repair or replacement under warranty.

1.6 A PC is most likely to demonstrate a fault when it is first powered up.

• The most common cause of failure is components coming adrift during transit.
• If your new PC will not start, check the external cables and connections and try switching on again.
• If the problem persists, do not open the machine. Contact the supplier, who will usually send an immediate replacement.