Computers “brand” vs “white-box”
Nowadays you can`t imagine business running without an IT infrastructure. When you start a new business, usually one of the first investments made is the purchase of PC`s and notebooks. The offer is very wide thus a question arises – which of these computers are more suitable for a business environment? This article is about two main types of computers – “brand” computers (produced by a global market leader, such as Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo etc.) and the assembled computers, also called, “white-box” (self-built PC, by buying the components separately, or small producers who assemble PC`s).
Costs
If you look solely at the purchasing price, then there are no doubts – the “white-box” will be cheaper – also if you compare exactly the same configurations. But if you take in mind that the average life cycle of a computer is around 5 years and during this period various additional direct and indirect costs can apply thus making the “white-box” fall behind in TCO.
Quality
Branded computers withstand many tests even before the product hits the market. The producer makes sure that all of the components are compatible and synergize. You may say that one of the best engineers in the world develop these machines. High-end business notebooks are tested based on military standards (MIL-STD) which shows the ruggedness of the devices, their ability to withstand active everyday use. The risk of damaging the device is smaller.
Service and spare part availability
In business a computer is a tool which has to be available constantly. Every single day a computer is out of service, one of employees isn`t able to do their job at the fullest potential. “Brand” producers are able to provide full 5 year warranty. The advantage of “brands” is that they have an enormous global network of spare part warehouses which guarantee the availability of spares even after 5 years. Technologies develop in an astonishing rate, for example, Intel releases new generations of processors on an average of 1-1.5 years. Usually after a new gen has been announced the previous shortly after that is discontinued, therefore the small PC producers usually are not able to provide spare parts, thus, in the best scenario, they will return the money for the initial purchase. Plus there is a probability that the small producer may stop existing.
Administration
In large infrastructures, it is important that the producer is able to deliver exactly the same hardware configurations over a longer period of time, thus enabling the enterprise to implement standardization and automation of simple every-day tasks (for example – creating an universal OS installation image or automatic update installation). It allows the administrator to work on innovations and more complex problems rather than wasting the time on routine tasks. “Brands” have management tools which provide automatic remote driver updates on all computers simultaneously. These tools allow remote monitoring and diagnostics, thus the administrator doesn`t have to be at the devices location to do any checkups or diagnostics. Another advantage of “brands” is their close partnership with Microsoft, therefore the hardware producer will act as a single-point of contact for any kind of support regardless whether it`s related to hardware or software issues.
Each of these two types of computers have their advantages and disadvantages. It`s important to determine what purpose the device will serve. If it`s intended for home use or a small startup in its early stages where the cost is very important and potential moments where the device may be out of service is not significant, then a “white-box” computer may be a suitable choice. But if the computer is a critical business tool and the financial and people resources are planned in long term, it is recommended to choose a “brand” computer produced by a large manufacturer, global market leader.